Shahhussain Murtazawi, a spokesman for the president, said on Sunday security forces failed to prevent terrorist attacks on military installations and that government acknowledges this.

This comes after government has, for three days, refused to reveal the exact number of soldiers killed in the attack on the Afghan National Army 209 Shaheen Military Corps Headquarters in Balkh.

Estimates indicate at least 135 soldiers were killed but some sources said more than 200 soldiers died in the attack.

As a responsible government, we accept we failed. But our achievements in tackling insurgents should not be ignored, Murtazawi said.

A number of political analysts meanwhile said the inability by security and intelligence departments to prevent terrorist attacks is the main reason for big military installations being targeted.

Analysts said the attack on the Afghan National Army 209 Military Corps Headquarters is a shame for government, but government never learns a lesson of such incidents.

The cleaning up of security departments, the Afghan National Army and police forces by the National Directorate of Security is the only option that can help in preventing such attacks, Ajmal Balochzada, a political analyst said.

The presidential palace has still not however confirmed or rejected claims that the base had been infiltrated by insurgents and that they had received inside help.

Although people are not happy about the results of previous investigations into incidents, the presidential palace said this time the results of the investigations should satisfy the people and the president.