Over 100 killed in Taliban attack on Afghan intel base

KABUL – The Taliban have claimed responsibility for an attack on a military compound in the Maidan Wardak Province in the central region of Afghanistan which left over 100 people dead according to government reports, however, the death toll has not yet been officially confirmed.

Militants detonated a vehicle packed with explosives at the training facility before gunmen arrived in a car and opened fire.

"We took about 65 bodies out of the rubble yesterday," said Mohammad Sardar Bakhyari, deputy head of the provincial council in Wardak province, where the attack occurred on Monday in the latest blow to beleaguered security forces.

A senior security official who spoke on condition of anonymity gave an even higher toll of at least 70 killed.

If the death toll of at least 100 is confirmed this attack will become the most deadly against national intelligence services in the last twenty years, according to the BBC.

The attack was on a training facility for the NDS, the Afghan intelligence agency.

It saw militants ram a Humvee filled with explosives into the National Directorate of Security (NDS) base in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Wardak, which lies about 50 kilometres south of Kabul.

The attack caused the roof to partially collapse, images from the scene show.

The attackers, who were dressed in uniforms used by Afghan special forces, were killed quickly.

The attack comes days after a Taliban suicide bomber targeted the convoy of Logar province's governor, killing at least eight security guards.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/world/at-least-8-killed-in-attack-on-afghan-provincial-governor/

Fights between security forces and Taliban fighters have continued to intensify across the country during the freezing Afghan winter, which traditionally experiences a reduction in combat.

The recent skirmishes come as the Taliban announced a resumption of talks with US officials in Qatar as the two sides discuss a possible peace deal that could pave the way for the insurgents participation in the next government.

The war in Afghanistan started more than 15 years ago after the US invaded the Asian country and overthrew the Taliban government as part of George W. Bush’s global “War on Terror” following the 9/11 attacks. The ongoing conflict is estimated to have left over 220,000 people dead, mostly civilians.