Deadly Taliban car bomb hits Afghan special forces’ base
More than 100 members of Afghanistan’s security forces were killed yesterday when Taliban militants detonated a car bomb outside a military base before storming the building and starting a firefight.
All the Taliban militants were killed in the gunfight, which began after a Humvee packed with explosives rammed the base, officials told Reuters.
“We have information that 126 people were killed in the explosion in the military training centre,” the senior defence ministry official said. A provincial official said more than 100 people were killed.
The attack, the worst in the country this month, occurred in Maidan Shahr, the capital of the southern province of Maidan Wardak, 50 kilometres to the south of Kabul.
After the militants set off the bomb, two or three gunmen entered the sprawling base, an Afghan official said.
Armed security patrolled the area after the attack while an Afghanistan military helicopter hovered above the scene.
The gunmen who tried to enter the compound were shot dead, said Mohebullah Sharifzai, spokesman for the Maidan Wardak provincial governor. “A car packed with explosives was also discovered and defused,” he said.
The province’s health director said he expected the number of casualties to rise.
The government had earlier said 12 people were killed and more than 28 security officials injured in the attack.
Taliban militants are active in the province and carry out regular attacks against security buildings and government institutions. The group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Some of the wounded were taken to provincial hospitals, while more serious cases were transferred to Kabul, said Salem Asgherkhail, head of the area’s health department.
The Taliban, meanwhile, said they were holding discussions with US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar, just days after threatening to pull out of peace talks with the American government and reiterating their refusal to speak with the internationally recognised Afghan government.
“Talks between the Taliban
leaders and US officials have started today in Qatar,” Taliban spokesman Mr Mujahid said.
Despite the talks, Taliban attacks have increased in recent weeks.
The talks are an attempt to end a war that has cost the US more than $1 trillion (Dh3.67tn) and thousands of lives on both sides.
Yesterday, the Taliban met US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar.
The Taliban refuse to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, instead they are speaking only to the United States who they view as the puppet master behind the country’s internationally supported administration.
The two sides are struggling to end the 17-year war, which began after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Taliban want a significant prisoner swap, while the US wants the two Afghan sides to meet face to face.
Meanwhile, the Afghan government is facing a presidential election in June, a race that started in earnest on Sunday with the deadline to announce candidacy.
The race is likely to be a rerun of the disputed 2014 election in which Abdullah Abdullah refused to accept the victory of his rival Ashraf Ghani, leading to a power-sharing arrangement brokered by the international community.