Insurgency: Over 100 Afgan soldiers get killed in gruesome Taliban attack

More than 100 Afghan soldiers has been killed with several others wounded in a Taliban attack on an army base on Friday, April 21 as a result of a fight that erupted near the city of Mazar-e Sharif in northern Balkh province of an army base in northern Afghanistan.

According to the Defence ministry the victims were assaulted by insurgents while leaving Friday prayers at the base’s mosque, while others were attacked in a canteen.

They also averred that the Afghan troops gathered outside the base near Mazar-e-Sharif when the insurgents carried out the attack, using bombers to breach defences.

Estimated death toll is said to be over 134, although a statement from the Defence ministry on Saturday, April 22, confirmed more than 100 soldiers had been “killed or injured”.

Confirming the incidence a security official in Mazar-e Sharif said more than 100 had died, including a top military commander, adding that at least 10 Taliban militants were killed in the fight and one attacker was detained.

A military spokesman said the Taliban fighters wore army uniforms and drove through military checkpoints before launching the raid thus making relatives of some of the soldiers gather outside the base to take possession of coffins.

Some of the distressed relatives of the victims questioned the security measures in place at the main entrance. Jan Agah, whose nephew happens to be one of the deceased serving at the base, who also has another relative injured in the attack, lamented that “If strict inspections had taken place, the attackers would not have passed the first gate.”

It would be recalled that the base at Mazar-e-Sharif is home to the Afghan National Army’s 209th Corps, responsible for providing security to most of northern Afghanistan, including Kunduz province which is currently involved in series of fights and has several German and other foreign soldiers garrisoned there.