The Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Thursday announced that General Mohmand Katawazai, the former of commander of 209 Shaheen Army Corps in Balkh, will be prosecuted for alleged negligence following Friday’s Taliban attack on the base.
 
Last Friday, at least 10 insurgents gained access to the heavily fortified base and attacked mostly unarmed soldiers, which resulted in a bloodbath.
 
Government has so far failed to give the actual casualty toll but based on information gathered by TOLOnews, over 250 soldiers appear to have been killed.
 
However, the MoD has said that a number of intelligence officials and some officers from the corps garrison were also under investigation.
 
“There was indeed negligence in the terrorist attack. You saw that the commander of the base was suspended and is under prosecution,” the Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.
 
“Unfortunately, emotions and condolences are shown to such incidents when they happen. They [relevant] officials pretend that they are upset about such incidents, but later they forget it and ignore to investigate it,” said Faizullah Jalal, university lecturer and political affairs analyst.
 
The details behind the attack are not yet clear but many believe that carrying out such a deadly attack would not have been possible without the cooperation of elements from inside the base.
 
“Investigation is ongoing into the case. It is a big issue in national level and it is being investigated by the Defense Ministry,” said Mujib Rahman Rahimi, spokesman for CEO Abdullah Abdullah’s office.