Kabul, Feb 17 (IANS): At least 24 people, including 20 policemen, were killed and nine wounded in Afghanistan's Logar province Tuesday after a group of Taliban militants attacked the police headquarters, media reports said.

Four attackers armed with guns and wearing suicide vests arrived in a car at the eastern Afghan province's police headquarters in the provincial capital of Pul-e-Alam, Xinhua reported.

One of the attackers detonated his explosives at the entrance gate at around 1 p.m., while three others forced their way inside the facility.

Two of the attackers detonated their explosives inside the headquarters while the last one blew himself up inside the canteen, Pajhwok Afghan News quoted the governor’s spokesperson Din Mohammad Darwesh as saying.

Logar police chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai said the police force suffered “heavy casualties” amid reports that dozens of police personnel had gathered for lunch in the canteen.

A doctor treating the wounded policemen said the injured were referred to Kabul for treatment. The toll may rise further as several of the wounded were in a critical condition.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.