ISLAMABAD - Heavily armed suicide bombers attacked a district police headquarters in southern Afghanistan late Wednesday, sparking an intense firefight with government security forces.

The attack reportedly began with a suicide bomber hitting a security outpost at the entrance of the security complex, making way for other assailants to storm the facility in Spin Boldak, which borders Pakistan.

A Taliban spokesman claimed its fighters wearing police uniforms have attacked the facility and inflicted heavy casualties on police forces.

Earlier, a suicide bomber killed a senior provincial government official and his security guard in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province.

An Afghan security forces member inspects a vehicl An Afghan security forces member inspects a vehicle at the site of a suicide attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, March 7, 2018. An Afghan security forces member inspects a vehicle at the site of a suicide attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, March 7, 2018.

The attack targeted and killed Abdul Zahir Haqqani, the director of religious affairs and Haj pilgrimage department, officials said.

A provincial government spokesman told VOA a suicide bomber walked up to Haqqani's vehicle on a busy road and blew himself up.

Haqqani's bodyguard was also among the dead and the explosion wounded about a dozen people, mostly passersby, added Ataullah Khogyani.

Spin Boldak, Afghanistan

Islamic State claimed it plotted the bomb attack.

Haqqani was a vocal critic of the Islamist Taliban and would publicly condemn Islamic State militants for killing Afghan civilians in the name of religion.

He had, until Wednesday, survived several attempts on his life; his brother was killed in one of those attacks.

Islamic State loyalists use Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, as their main base for attacks in the province and elsewhere in Afghanistan.