There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties, but some Afghan officials said Saturday that at least 140 people had been killed and 60 injured when a handful of Taliban fighters, disguised as Afghan military personnel, entered the base in army vehicles and opened fire. Local television stations quoted an unnamed security official and regional politicians Saturday as saying that “at least 140 soldiers were killed in Friday afternoon’s attack… and at least 100 soldiers were also wounded.”

Survivors being treated at a city hospital told local TOLOnews TV they believed without “inside help” it would not have been possible for the attackers to make their way to the center of the heavily fortified military base where the mosque is located. A US official in Washington on Friday had put the toll at more than 50 killed and wounded. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Afghan troops keep watch at the base near Mazar-e-Sharif after the attack

More than 100 Afghan soldiers were killed or wounded in a Taliban attack on an army base on Friday, the defence ministry has confirmed. Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, praised Afghan commandos for bringing an “atrocity to an end.” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flew to the area Saturday to console victims’ families. Related Coverage Confusion, chaos after Taliban breach Afghan base in deadly attack

As many as 10 Taliban fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles, made their way into the base and opened fire on mostly unarmed soldiers eating and leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, according to officials. The attackers used rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, and several detonated suicide vests packed with explosive, they said. Witnesses said a group of 10 heavily armed suicide bombers aboard two army vehicles and disguised as government soldiers stormed the Afghan National Army’s 209th Shaheen Corps Headquarters Friday in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of the northern Balkh province. TALIBAN “RETRIBUTION”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Saturday the attack on the base was retribution for the recent killing of several senior Taliban leaders in northern Afghanistan. It said that Tayib was "once known as the shadow Taliban governor of Takhar province" in the north-east, and was killed along with eight other Taliban fighters in the strike on 17 April. A Taliban statement said four of the attackers were army defectors who had served at the base, and it called the rampage a “prelude” to the militants’ traditional spring offensive. The NATO-led military coalition deploys advisers to the base where the attack occurred to train and assist the Afghan forces but coalition officials said no international troops were involved in the attack. Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command spokesman Colonel John Thomas described the incident as a “significant attack from enemy forces” and said “we are helping the Afghan forces in any way that we can.”

The Afghan military base that came under attack on Friday houses tens of thousands of soldiers who are regularly engaged in anti-Taliban operations in troubled northern regions of the country.
Taliban insurgents attack an Afghan military base in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh Province, killing more than 140 soldiers. It is said to be the deadliest attack of its kind (BBC) , (AP) (Reuters)