Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Fourteen people including a district governor were killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan's southeastern Ghazni province Thursday, the head of security for the province said.
The Taliban claim to have taken control of key parts of the Khwaja Omari district, but provincial officials deny that.
The attack began at about 2 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday) when Taliban fighters attacked the district and police headquarters in Khwaja Omari district, said the Ghazni provincial governor's spokesman, Mohammad Arif Noori.
Fighting went on for about three hours until fresh troops were deployed to the district and the Taliban escaped from the area. The Taliban used heavy weapons, he said.
The head of security for Ghazni province, Ramazan Ali Mohsen, said five people were injured in addition to the 14 dead. Other than the district governor, Ali Dost Shams, all the casualties were security forces, Mohsen said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid, in a statement to media, said the militants had taken the key parts of the district including the district and police headquarters. He said Taliban fighters had killed about 20 Afghan security force members.
