KABUL—Heavily armed Taliban fighters wearing military uniforms stormed a major prison Monday, battling security forces and freeing more than 350 inmates and fellow insurgents in a bold attack amid an apparent leadership struggle within the militant group.

The commando-style strike — beginning with the truck bomb blast at the prison entrance — marked one of the largest Taliban operations since the July acknowledgment of the death of insurgents’ reclusive leader, Mohammad Omar.

The announcement led to reports of infighting among the militants over Omar’s successor, and whether to resume peace talks with the government in Kabul.

But the latest attack suggests that factions within the Taliban have maintained enough unity and organization to carry out large-scale assaults.

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said 355 prisoners — 148 of them considered militants — managed to flee the mud-walled complex in Ghazni province, a volatile region about 75 miles southwest of Kabul.

At least four police and several insurgents were killed in a gun battle that lasted for several hours, according to Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, Ghazni’s deputy governor. Several prisoners were wounded in the clashes, he said.

At least two Taliban suicide bombers were among those killed, officials said, and several escapees were recaptured.

The attack began when insurgents blew up a truck laden with explosives at the jail entrance, allowing attackers to make their way inside, Ahmadi said.

“From outside, the Taliban fired rocket-propelled grenades on the jail, and a gun battle broke out,” he added.

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Officials said the prisoners were ordinary foot soldiers snared on the battlefield or while planning attacks on the government. The prisoners did not include key Taliban commanders, they noted.

The Taliban, however, said senior figures were among the escapees.

Before the attack began, insurgents placed landmines on various dirt roads leading to the jail in order to block government reinforcements.

The incident was the largest jail break in Afghanistan since April 2011, when more than 500 inmates were able to flee Kandahar’s main jail by digging a long tunnel from outside the building.

In 2008, more than 1,100 prisoners managed to escape from the Sarposa prison in Kandahar.

The latest jail break comes at a sensitive time for the government, which has struggled to maintain adequate security throughout in the country, including in Kabul, the nation’s heavily fortified capital.

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On Monday, Abdullah Abdullah, the country’s chief executive, rejected rumours that the government could face increasing risks of a coup, but conceded that months of violence have eroded public trust in the Afghan government.

“We should assure the people that we are committed to the people,” Abdullah said. “There is no program, as believed, outside or inside Afghanistan, for establishment of a different system.”

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