KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan ministry of defense said in a statement Wednesday that at least 26 of its soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in a blistering Taliban assault on an Afghan National Security base in southern Kandahar province.

The ministry said 80 member of the Taliban were also killed in the incident.

Kandahar is considered the spiritual heartland of the Taliban.

In previous reports the U.S. Special Inspector General for Reconstruction (SIGAR) has called the casualty rate among Afghanistan's National Security Forces "shockingly high." Last year more than 6,800 were killed and another 12,000 wounded according to a SIGAR report earlier this year.

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The Afghan military and security forces number 195,000 soldiers and more than 150,000 policemen. They have struggled to contain the insurgency, which has stepped up attacks across the country.