On the morning of 1 March 2019,

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

gunmen and suicide bombers attacked Camp Shorabak in Helmand Province,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. They killed 23

Afghan soldier The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can ...

s and injured another 15.At least 23 Afghan security forces killed in Taliban attack
/ref> Twenty

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric na ...

s were killed. None of the

US Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

advisers stationed at the military base were injured.

The attack

The attack took place in the early hours of the morning. Taliban fighters stormed the ANDSF fghan National Defence and Security Forcesbase at Camp Shorabak in

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

, southern Afghanistan, which is home to the Afghan army's 215th Corps and includes a US garrison of a few hundred Marine advisers. The base was of particular importance to the US military because it had previously hosted thousands of marines deployed to Helmand during the troop surge. During the attack, the Taliban, wearing Afghan military uniforms and using military equipment regularly used by the Afghan army, fooled the soldiers defending the base. One suicide bomber detonated his explosive device in a canteen. A total of three suicide bombers were killed in the attack. Afghan units were assisted by US forces with air support to repel the Taliban attack.

Claim of Responsibility

The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, their second against a major military target since the start of Taliban-US peace talks, probably to strengthen their negotiating position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camp Shorabak attack, 2019 2019 mass shootings in Asia 2019 murders in Afghanistan 21st century in Helmand Province 21st-century mass murder in Afghanistan Attacks on buildings and structures in Afghanistan Attacks on military installations in the 2010s Islamic terrorist incidents in 2019 March 2019 crimes in Asia March 2019 events in Afghanistan Mass shootings in Afghanistan Suicide bombings in 2019 Suicide bombings in Afghanistan Taliban bombings Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2019 Building bombings in Afghanistan Attacks in Afghanistan in 2019