Scores of Afghan troops killed in suicide bombing claimed by Taliban

Afghan security forces were killed after an attack on a training compound of the national intelligence agency in Wardak Province. Photo / Google Maps

Scores of Afghan security forces were killed Monday when a suicide bomber in a Humvee rammed a training compound of the national intelligence agency in Wardak Province, officials there said.

Taliban insurgents immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which some security officials in Kabul said had killed more than 120 people inside the facility and wounded many others. But provincial officials insisted that the toll was much lower. Spokesmen for the intelligence agency could not be reached Monday night to comment.

The attack followed an equally brazen Taliban assault Sunday on a government convoy in Logar province, in which the provincial governor barely escaped and eight of his bodyguards were killed when a suicide bomber in a vehicle rammed their convoy.

The insurgents have stepped up intense ground attacks while continuing to participate in peace discussions that U.S. officials are promoting. Afghan officials and others have described this as a tactic to gain leverage in the talks, with the Taliban demanding full withdrawal of foreign troops as a price for settling the 17-year conflict.

A meeting between Taliban delegates and foreign diplomats was held Monday in Qatar, and an email from a Taliban spokesman Monday claiming that 190 people had been killed by its forces in Wardak said the talks would continue Tuesday.

The massive bombing Monday destroyed most of the building in the provincial capital, where about 150 counterinsurgency troops are based, officials there said. After the bombing, gunmen entered the compound in a truck and began shooting.

Contradictory reports on the number of dead and wounded in the Wardak attack caused confusion until late Monday night. Officials and legislators in Wardak put the number killed at a dozen to 50, while some security officials in Kabul said the numbers were far higher.

One military official, speaking to a news agency on the condition of anonymity, expressed frustration that intelligence officials had forbidden other agencies from speaking about the incident.

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