TALIBAN ATTACK: More than 100 dead as jihadis launch assault on military base
TALIBAN attackers disguised as soldiers have stormed into a military based and killed more than 100 Afghan forces.
Taliban attack major military base in Afghanistan
At least 140 soldiers were killed and many others were wounded in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, in what has described as the deadliest attack ever on an Afghan military base.
The death toll is expected to rise.
As many as 10 Taliban fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles, talked their way onto the base and opened fire on soldiers eating dinner and leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, according to officials.
Afghan soldiers patrol the area following the attack
An Afghan security official stands guard near the site
The attackers used rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, they said. Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the government has yet to release official casualty figures.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack was retribution for the recent killing of several senior Taliban leaders in northern Afghanistan.
The NATO-led military coalition deploys advisers to the base where the attack took place in order to train and assist the Afghan forces.
More than 100 soldiers were killed and dozens injured
But coalition officials said no international troops were involved in the attack.
Afghan soldiers stand guard as military ambulances enter a military base
The Western-backed Afghan government has been locked in an ongoing war with Taliban insurgents and other militant groups.