An Afghan security official stands guard near burning military vehicles after a clash between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Torkham on Monday. A group of Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a US base near the Pakistani border in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a three-hour shootout, officials said. Photo: AFP

Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen dressed as Afghan police attacked a US base near the Pakistani border on Monday, sparking a shootout that left all three assailants dead, officials said.

No members of the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan were killed in the assault on the base in Nangarhar province, said a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"There were a series of explosions that occurred in the vicinity of a forward operating base in Nangarhar province," an ISAF spokesman told AFP.

The military later described it as an "attempted but unsuccessful coordinated attack by enemy forces."

"There were three enemy forces killed during the attack. We can confirm that no ISAF personnel were killed as a result of this incident," it said in a statement.

An AFP photographer saw the bodies of three dead attackers wearing Afghan police uniforms.

NATO combat troops are gradually withdrawing from Afghanistan and are due to finish their mission completely by the end of 2014, after presidential elections in April.

Afghan officials said Monday's attack took place at Torkham, which borders Pakistan and straddles a key NATO overland supply route into landlocked Afghanistan from the nearest sea port of Karachi.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, Nangarhar governor's spokesman, said insurgents first attacked NATO supply trucks.

"Later, three armed suicide bombers started gunfire and clashes with Afghan forces and US forces, and they were killed after three hours of fighting," he told AFP

"At the moment, the stand-off is over, and the situation is under control."

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban which is leading a 12-year insurgency against Western troops and the Afghan government, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to the media.

The Taliban have launched a spate of attacks across the country in recent days, with scores killed in suicide bombings, ambushes and rocket attacks. They also killed five aid workers in the west of the country.