KABUL, Afghanistan — At least five Marines were wounded on Tuesday during a Taliban rocket attack on a military base in southern Afghanistan, according to three defense officials. The high number of casualties came a day after Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper visited the country.

The attack occurred in the provincial capital of Helmand Province, Lashkar Gar, where American Marines keep a small base at the airfield there.

The attack highlights that — despite President Trump’s assertion that the American military is hitting the Taliban “harder than they have ever been hit before” — the insurgent group is still capable of hitting a fortified military base in a well-defended provincial capital.

Following the attack, the Taliban tweeted that their fighters had fired more than 60 “missiles” at the outpost and killed and wounded “tens” of Americans and Afghans. One defense official said it was only several rockets and those wounded were in a stable condition.