At least 65 people were killed in a Taliban-claimed attack on an Afghan intelligence base, sources said Tuesday, contradicting an official toll in the latest high-casualty assault on beleaguered Afghan forces.
Monday’s attack in central Wardak province targeted an intelligence training facility, officials have said, meaning information remains difficult to independently verify.
The assault, in which militants detonated a Humvee packed with explosives before gunmen opened fire, was followed by a day of confusion, with authorities giving conflicting casualty numbers to media.
“We took about 65 bodies out of the rubble yesterday,” Mohammad Sardar Bakhyari, deputy head of the Wardak provincial council, told AFP Tuesday.
A senior security official who spoke on condition of anonymity gave an even higher figure of at least 70 killed.
Later on Tuesday the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) — the intelligence agency — announced the toll had been 36 dead and 58 wounded.
Afghan authorities are known to downplay casualty figures as their forces continue suffering what experts describe as “unsustainable” losses since NATO pulled its combat forces from the country in 2014.
Earlier, provincial officials told AFP just 12 people had been killed, while other media reported tolls topping 100 deaths.
