Taliban kill dozens at army HQ in northern Afghanistan
April 22, 2017 00:19
Dozens of Afghan soldiers were killed or wounded on Friday when Taliban gunmen disguised in Afghan army uniform talked their way past checkpoints and attacked a military base, officials said.
A United States official in Washington put the toll at more than 50 killed and wounded. Afghan officials offered conflicting numbers of casualties in the incident, at a major headquarters in northern Afghanistan often used by foreign military advisers.
The Western-backed Afghan government is locked in a prolonged war with Taliban insurgents and other militant groups.
The attack was launched near a mosque on the base in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, as soldiers were leaving Friday prayers, said army spokesman Nasratullah Jamshidi.
Six attackers in two military vehicles told guards at the gates that they were carrying wounded soldiers and urgently needed to enter, he said.
Representative image
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