TALIBAN forces struck a government compound in Ghazni, eastern Afghanistan, yesterday in a dawn attack that included two suicide truck bombings and left at least 12 people dead.

Those who perished included 10 police officers asleep in their quarters.

The attack started at dawn, with two massive suicide truck bombs outside the compound followed by an assault by about a dozen fighters.

The attack triggered a gun battle with policemen and security forces and all 21 assailants were subsequently killed, including the two suicide bombers, said the Interior Ministry.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to media.

The bombs blew out many windows across the city and left about 200 people injured, mostly from flying glass, according to Ghazni governor Musa Khan Akbarzada.

A Taliban statement issued prior to the attack ridiculed the Nato summit in Wales, declaring that the alliance’s “13-year-old occupation is now seen as a historical shame.”