Clashes erupted Monday the army and Taliban who tried to take a building official in Gardez in southeastern Afghanistan.
According Rohullah Samoon, spokesman for the governor of Paktia province, government forces have managed to block the attackers.
"We killed three attackers in a market and we are trying to capture others or kill them so that civilians are not affected," he said by telephone, without providing details on the number of Taliban incurred.
He however reported casualties among military and civilians.
A regional Taliban commander has told his side of a commando of five men armed with heavy weapons on them and explosives for a suicide operation.
The merchants have lowered the curtain on their shop in Gardez, a town a hundred miles southeast of Kabul and frequent target of raids by Taliban.
In July, the Taliban and suicide bombers disguised as women have launched a similar attack which killed nine.