The death toll from a coordinated attack, claimed by the Taliban, has increased to 41 people – including 21 security force members and 20 civilians.



The deputy minister of interior for security, Gen. Murad Ali Murad, who appeared at a press conference on Tuesday evening, confirmed the casualty toll and said 48 security force members and 110 civilians were wounded in the twin blasts.



“Twenty-one police officers from Gardez were martyred and 48 others were wounded. Meanwhile, 20 Gardez residents were martyred and 110 others were wounded in the attack,” he said.



The attack which started at around 9:30am continued for at least four hours.



Seven attackers were involved in the incident.



Toryalai Abdyani, the police chief for Paktia province, was also killed in the deadly suicide bombing at a police headquarters.



Murad said Abdyani’s body was transferred to Kabul in Tuesday afternoon.



TOLOnews reporter Tamim Hamid who reported from the attack site said many vehicles including one small truck, a corolla vehicle, a police ranger and a Humvee were used.



He said two of the vehicles were loaded with explosives while two others carried the attackers.



Hamid said at least 12 insurgents were involved in the attack.



The Paktia Police Headquarters and the 303 Police Zone Headquarters are located at the site, which was a heavily fortified area, he said.



Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah who landed in Gardez City on Tuesday evening sent his condolences to the victims’ families, saying that government will investigate the incident.

Abdullah said that according to their information, more than 4,000 kilograms of explosives and many military vehicles were used in the attack.

He said it was the biggest attack launched against security forces so far.

The Presidential Palace condemned the attack in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon.