Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — More than 100 Afghan soldiers were killed when militants disguised in army uniforms infiltrated a base in northern Afghanistan and opened fire, Afghan defense officials said Saturday.

The attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, was one of the worst against Afghan forces in years.

The Taliban said 10 assailants carried out the Friday afternoon attack, which was intended to avenge the deaths of two of its top officials in northern Afghanistan at the hands of Afghan forces.

An Afghan provincial military official said the death toll could be as high as 140.

Some of the attackers posed as wounded soldiers and joined an army convoy as it drove to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, an Afghan provincial military official said. The official was not authorized to talk to reporters, but did so on the condition of anonymity.

Other attackers also posed as soldiers and already had infiltrated the Afghan army’s 209th Corps in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province and long known as one of the safest major cities in Afghanistan.

The assailants approached a mosque inside the compound as soldiers were leaving weekly Friday prayers, and a nearby dining hall, the official said. The facilities both were filled with hundreds of soldiers, most unarmed.

The militants sprayed the base with gunfire before being shot and killed by Afghan commandos.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited the base Saturday and condemned the attack, calling the assailants “infidels.”

Last month, 50 people were killed in an attack on the country’s main military hospital in Kabul, the capital. Islamic State’s regional affiliate claimed responsibility for that attack, but officials still are investigating the claim.