Alleged Taliban fighters and other militants stand handcuffed while being presented to the media at a police headquarters in Jalalabad on March 6, 2018. 
Afghan police said over 17 alleged Taliban militants including two Pakistani nationals were arrested during a five-week operation in Nangarhar province. / AFP PHOTO / NOORULLAH SHIRZADA        (Photo credit should read NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP/Getty Images)
The Taliban: How it began, and what it wants
01:21 - Source: CNN
Kabul, Afghanistan CNN  — 

Fourteen people including a district governor were killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan’s southeastern Ghazni province Thursday, the head of security for the province said.

The Taliban claim to have taken control of key parts of the Khwaja Omari district, but provincial officials deny that.

The attack began at about 2 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday) when Taliban fighters attacked the district and police headquarters in Khwaja Omari district, said the Ghazni provincial governor’s spokesman, Mohammad Arif Noori.

Fighting went on for about three hours until fresh troops were deployed to the district and the Taliban escaped from the area. The Taliban used heavy weapons, he said.

The head of security for Ghazni province, Ramazan Ali Mohsen, said five people were injured in addition to the 14 dead. Other than the district governor, Ali Dost Shams, all the casualties were security forces, Mohsen said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid, in a statement to media, said the militants had taken the key parts of the district including the district and police headquarters. He said Taliban fighters had killed about 20 Afghan security force members.