Taliban militants attacked government buildings in the south-eastern city of Khost with suicide bombers and rocket-propelled grenades, officials in Afghanistan said.
At least three suicide bombers blew themselves up during the attack, Defence Minister spokesman General Mohammed Zahir Azimi said.
Gen Azimi said Afghan forces had surrounded the attackers and were firing on them.
Provincial council member Tajaly Khan Saber said that it was impossible to determine casualties because residents could not move about in the streets of Khost, site of a major US military base, about 95 miles south of Kabul. It is not clear if US troops were involved in the fighting.
Last May, 11 Taliban suicide bombers struck government buildings in Khost, killing 20 people and wounding three Americans.
On Tuesday, suspected Taliban militants armed with bombs, rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launched near-simultaneous assaults in Gardez, about 50 miles north-west of Khost, and in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Six Afghan police and intelligence officers and eight militants died in the two attacks.
