More than 100 members of Afghan security forces were killed when Taliban insurgents attacked a military compound in central Maidan Wardak Province on Monday, a senior defense ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We have information that 126 people have been killed in the explosion inside the military training center, eight special commandoes are among the dead," said a senior official in the defense ministry in Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the assault began on Monday morning when the attackers rammed into a car filled with explosives through a military checkpoint and detonated the vehicle inside the campus of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces training center in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Maidan Wardak Province.

Two gunmen entered the campus right after the explosion and opened fire on Afghan soldiers before being gunned down during the clashes.

A second source residing in Maidan Wardak province said more than 100 members of National Directorate of Security (NDS) were killed in the complex attack.

"I have been in touch with the NDS official in the province, and they told me that over 100 members of the NDS were killed in the big explosion," the former provincial official said.

Sharif Hotak, a member of the provincial council in Maidan Wardak, said he saw bodies of 35 Afghan forces in the hospital.

"Many more were killed. Several bodies were transported to Kabul city, and many injured were transferred to hospitals in Kabul," said Hotak, adding that "the government was hiding the accurate casualty figures to prevent a further dip in the morale of the Afghan forces."

"The explosion was very powerful. The whole building has collapsed," he said.

Government officials in Maidan Wardak and Kabul declined to comment when asked if they were obscuring the death toll. 

Earlier the government reported 12 people had been killed.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

(Top image: File photo via VCG)