Dozens of Afghan troops were killed when Taliban militants stormed their base in Kandahar province in the early hours of Thursday, according to a statement from the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
The statement said 43 of the base’s 60 troops died in the attack. A further nine were injured, six are missing and two were not harmed. Ten attackers were killed in the assault.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement from the group’s spokesman, Qhari Yosouf Ahmadi.
The militants attacked the Chashmawi military base in the Maiwand district of Kandahar at approximately 2.50 a.m. local time (6.20 p.m. Wednesday ET.)
Taliban raids on Afghan military installations aren’t uncommon. In April, a deadly raid on a northern army base left as many as 140 feared dead. That attack was revenge for the deaths of two of its officials in the region, a spokesman for the group told CNN.
From January 1, 2017, through May 8, 2017, 2,531 Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) service members were killed and a further 4,238 wounded, according to a report of the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
Developing story – more to come