About 140 Afghan soldiers were killed on Friday by Taliban attackers disguised in military uniforms in what would be the deadliest attack ever on an Afghan military base.
As many as 10 Taliban fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles, talked their way onto the base and opened fire on soldiers eating dinner and leaving a mosque after Friday prayers.
The attackers had used rocket-propelled grenades and rifles.
One official in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where the attack occurred, said on Saturday, that at least 140 soldiers were killed and many others wounded.
Others said the toll was likely to be even higher.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as the government has yet to release official casualty figures.
A Taliban spokesman said in a statement on Saturday that the attack was retribution for the recent killing of several senior Taliban leaders in northern Afghanistan.
