Dozens Killed as Taliban Launch Fresh Assaults on Afghan Bases

At least 43 Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban-claimed assault on a military base in southern Afghanistan which saw the insurgents blast their way into the compound with at least one explosives-laden Humvee, the defense ministry said, AFP reported.

The militants then razed the base in the Chashmo area of Maiwand district in Kandahar province to the ground, according to the ministry.

"Unfortunately there is nothing left inside the camp. They have burned down everything they found inside," defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.

Just two soldiers were known to have survived unscathed, with nine wounded and six unaccounted for, officials said, underscoring the shocking casualties that Afghan security forces have faced in their struggle to beat back the insurgents. Ten militants were killed, the ministry added.

The Taliban claimed the ambush in a message to journalists that said all 60 security personnel on the base were killed.

"We have sent a delegation to assess the situation. The base is under ANA (Afghan National Army) control," Waziri added.

An Afghan security source said that the dead and wounded had been taken to Kandahar's military hospital.

Separately Thursday, militants besieged a police headquarters in the southeastern province of Ghazni, attacking it for the second time this week.

Afghanistan is still suffering from insecurity and violence years after the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The invasion removed a Taliban regime from power, but militancy continues to this day.