The attack was carried out in the morning against a poppy eradication police force in Khogyani district of eastern Nangarhar province, the interior ministry said in a statement.

At least 31 people including the district governor of Khogyani were wounded in the attack, the statement said, adding that the attack took place when district officials were talking to local elders before the forces started eradication of the poppy crop.

Major Martin O'Donnell, a NATO-led military spokesman told PA earlier that the casualties occurred when Taliban insurgents opened fire at Afghan police. O'Donnell said a suicide bomber also detonated himself in the “midst of the confusion,” causing several casualties. He said NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were passing through the area at the time of attack, but no soldiers were injured.

A police official in the province, who did not want to be named said Khogyani's district police chief was one of the casualties.

"If the goal of the insurgents was to target ISAF troops operating in the area, they failed," Brigadier General Carlos Branco, ISAF spokesperson said.