A car bomb attack on an Afghan police base followed by an ongoing gun battle have killed two policemen and wounded dozens of people in a city bordering Pakistan, officials said .

The complex attack in the city of Khost was launched early in the morning, and has wounded 14 security personnel and nine civilians.

A gun battle near the base was ongoing, an AFP correspondent reported.

The car bomb was detonated at the gate of a special police forces base in Khost city, a security source said.

After the blast a group of attackers tried to enter the base compound resulting in a gun battle with security forces, Afghanistan’s interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters.

Four attackers have been killed while two more were still fighting, Arian said.

Khost provincial health official Gul Mohammad said women and children were among the wounded.

No group has so far claimed the attack on the base.

Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent weeks even as the Taliban and Afghan government remain engaged in peace talks to end the country’s long-running conflict.

Afghan and US officials have repeatedly warned that the rising bloodshed was threatening the peace talks being held in Qatar since last month.

Most attacks by the Taliban have targeted Afghan security forces, although scores of civilians have also been killed.