Afghan officials say at least 11 police officers have been shot and killed by a fellow policeman at a checkpoint in the southern Helmand province.

Omer Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, says the policeman turned his rifle on his colleagues and killed them late Monday night in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

Zwak says the attacker collected all the firearms and ammunition from his colleagues, then fled the scene in a police vehicle — presumably to join the Taliban. He says an investigation is underway.

Dr. Din Mohammad at the Lashkar Gah Hospital confirmed the death toll. He says they received 11 bodies, all with gunshot wounds.

The Taliban made no official statement or claim about the attack but Afghanistan has seen several such incidents over the past years.