Taliban assault on Afghan military compound kills 12 troops, wounds 30

At least a dozen of Afghan security forces have been killed and more than 30 others wounded in an assault by Taliban militants on a military base in the south.

Afghan provincial officials said the militants detonated an explosive-laden car at the  base in the southern province of Maidan Wardak on Monday.

Two gunmen, who tried to enter the compound after the bombing, were shot dead, said Mohebullah Sharifzai, spokesman for the provincial governor.

“A (second) car, packed with explosives, was also discovered and defused,” he said.

A number of the wounded are in critical condition and were transferred to the capital, Kabul, according to Salem Asgherkhail, head of the area’s public health department.

“Looking at the damage, the number of casualties may rise and our health team is still searching for victims,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack through their spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid.

The assault followed an earlier attack on a convoy of security forces on Sunday, in the country’s eastern province of Logar, where the Taliban killed at least eight security forces and wounded several others.

SS