A suicide and gun attack on a police training centre in southeast Afghanistan on Tuesday morning has killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 40, a hospital official said.

The victims include “women, students and police”, Hedayatullah Hamidi, public health director in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, told.

security officials have confirmed that Toryalai Abdyani, the police chief for Paktia province, has also been killed in Tuesday morning’s deadly suicide bombing in Gardez City.

The daily added that eyewitnesses said the number of dead could be as many as 40.

The Taliban claimed responsibility in a tweet for the continuing attack in the centre in Gardez, capital of Paktia province which borders Pakistan.

“At first, a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives near the training centre, making way for a number of attackers to start their assault,” the Afghan interior ministry said in a statement.

A battle between the attackers, armed with guns and suicide vests, and security forces is underway inside the centre which is located near the Paktia police headquarters, it said.

A local official said two car bombs blew up near the compound that also houses the provincial headquarters of the national police, border police and Afghan National Army.

“A group of gunmen have entered the compound and fighting is ongoing,” Allah Mir Bahram, a member of the Paktia provincial council, told.

Photos posted on Twitter purportedly show two large plumes of smoke rising above the city, suggesting two bombs were detonated in the assault.

Paktia borders Pakistan’s militancy-plagued tribal areas where the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network has a presence.