Taliban Attack 2019
On 21 January 2019, the Taliban carried out one of the deadliest single attacks on Afghan government forces in that period, striking a heavily secured National Directorate of Security compound and training facility in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Maidan Wardak province, about 40 kilometres southwest of Kabul. The site was used by Afghanistan’s national intelligence service, the NDS, and functioned as a training and administrative centre where large numbers of personnel were gathered at the start of the working day. The attackers chose this location precisely because of the concentration of intelligence and security staff inside the compound.
The people killed were Afghan security personnel attached to the National Directorate of Security, including intelligence officers, guards, administrative staff and trainees who were present at the facility. Afghan officials also confirmed that among the dead were members of elite Afghan special forces units, sometimes referred to as commandos, who were either based at the site or assigned to protect and work alongside the NDS. These commandos were highly trained troops used for counter-terrorism and high-risk operations, and their presence underlined the importance of the compound as a sensitive and high-value target. Together, these groups made up the 127 security personnel who lost their lives in the attack.
The assault began with the Taliban using a captured military Humvee packed with a massive quantity of explosives. The vehicle was driven at speed toward the main gate of the compound, passing through or destroying the outer security barriers before detonating inside the perimeter. The explosion was enormous, blowing apart buildings, collapsing walls and sending debris, metal fragments and shockwaves through offices and sleeping quarters where staff were gathered. Many of the victims were killed instantly by the blast, while others were crushed under falling concrete or struck by shrapnel as structures gave way around them.
Immediately after the explosion, Taliban gunmen who had followed the vehicle into the compound began firing on survivors in an attempt to cause further casualties and prevent rescue efforts. Afghan security forces, including guards and responding units from nearby bases, engaged the attackers in a firefight that lasted for some time before the gunmen were killed. By the time the fighting ended, much of the compound was in ruins, vehicles were burning, and emergency workers were pulling bodies and wounded people from the wreckage.
The aftermath of the attack was one of shock and anger across Afghanistan. The scale of the losses, especially within the intelligence service and among elite commando units, dealt a severe blow to the country’s security forces. Families of the victims gathered in Kabul and Maidan Wardak to mourn their dead, while hospitals struggled to treat the many injured who had been pulled from the rubble. The Afghan government condemned the attack as a war crime and vowed retaliation, while the Taliban claimed responsibility and portrayed the bombing as a successful strike against what they called a key enemy base.
In the days that followed, Afghan authorities tightened security around intelligence and military installations, reviewing how a vehicle bomb had been able to penetrate such a heavily guarded compound. The loss of 127 trained personnel weakened local security operations and forced the NDS and the army to redistribute staff from other regions to fill the gaps left by the dead. The attack also became a powerful symbol of the Taliban’s ability to strike even the most protected targets, deepening public fears about the conflict and reinforcing the sense that no part of the country was truly safe as the war continued.
