25 Afghan soldiers killed in Taliban attack on military base where U.S. mission operates

At least 25Afghan soldiers were killed as they repelled an attack on Fridayby the Taliban on a military base in Helmand province insouthern Afghanistan, officials said.

Afghan forces killed at least nine Taliban insurgents,including three suicide bombers, during the attack by thehardline Islamist group, the provincial governor said in astatement. Afghan commando forces were clearing the area, hesaid.

The 215 Maiwand Army Corps came under attack in the earlyhours of Friday, said a senior security official in Kabul,adding the attack was the Taliban's third attempt to overrunCamp Shorab, a strategic military installation, in the past 48hours.

The U.S. advising and assistingmission, which works alongsideAfghan troops, operates from the base. Foreign forces present atthe base were safe as the Taliban could not breach the walls oftheir compound, two other security officials said.

Same base attacked with plan to 'kill Prince Harry'

Security officials in Kabul say clashes between the Talibanand government forces backed by foreign forces have not subsided even as U.S. and Taliban officials are holding talks in Qatar toseek a negotiated solution to end Afghanistan's long war.

Repeated raids on Camp Shorab, a sprawling base situated onwhat used to be Camp Bastion, the former British airbase, andCamp Leatherneck, the old U.S. Marine Corps base in Helmand,have underlined the Taliban's ability to target criticalsecurity installations.

The Taliban said their fighters were engaged in clasheswith U.S. and Afghan forces at the Shorab base.

"Heavy clashes continue as tens of members of the enemyforces had been killed or were wounded," Qari Yousuf Ahmadi,aTaliban spokesperson, said in a statement.

"Itis the same military base which we attacked in 2012 witha plan to kill Prince Harry. In recent months we providedspecial training to these attackers and arranged a visit to thebase several times," said a commander.

A second Taliban commander said some members of the Afghannational army had helped the suicide bombers conduct areconnaissance of the camp.

Trump planning to reduce U.S. forces in region

Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, was in Afghanistanin 2012 on a four-month tour as a British Army officer. He wasbased in Camp Bastion on the front line in the NATO-led waragainst Taliban insurgentswho said at the time that they weredoing everything in their power to kidnap or kill him.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to reduce U.S.forces as talks with the Taliban progress.

In addition, some 8,000 troops from 38 other countries inResolute Support provide training and support for Afghan forces.Helmand is seen as a strategic target for the militants aslarge stretches of the province provide a source of much of theworld's illegal opium supply. During more than a decade ofinternational intervention, it was the deadliest province forforeign troops, claiming nearly 1,000 lives.

In the past week, Afghan soldiers also thwarted a Talibanattack in Zabul provincekilling 28 Taliban fighters, and atleast 15 members of the insurgent groups were killed in airstrikes conducted by the Afghan air force in Kandahar province, a senior security official said.