Suicide bombing at Afghan police HQ kills 12

In a e-mailed media statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks in the eastern Paktika province - a deadly border region that has long been a refuge for Islamist extremists from around the world.

The attackers made it through three security gates before reaching the main building on the police compound, said Nawab Waziry, the provincial council head.

One attacker detonated his payload completely inside the police headquarters building, while the other blew himself up near the entrance roughly 20 minutes later. "The site was covered with blood," Waziry told media

Gen. Daud Andarabi, the spokesman for the regional police commander in southeastern Afghanistan, said the blasts killed at least 12 officers and wounded 16.

Meyawer Khan, chief of the criminal investigation department for Paktika province, confirmed 12 people were killed. The compound was also used as a police training center.

The area, about 90 miles south of Kabul, borders the Pakistani region of North Waziristan and has been the target of numerous drone strikes against the insurgents.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the Paktika attack in a statement, saying that the Afghan police are trying to serve the people of Afghanistan.