ISLAMABAD - (DPA) - At least two people were killed after unidentified gunmen attacked two passenger buses used by the Taliban 's Ministry of Defense, in the city of Herat, in western Afghanistan , on Monday.

Another 20 people were wounded in the attack. The two buses were carrying employees of the Taliban's 207th Farouk Corps.

The ministry's spokesman, Inayatullah Khwarizmi, confirmed the news to the German News Agency (dpa).

There were initially conflicting reports regarding the number of attacks and the number of casualties.

Some local media reported that four buses were attacked in different parts of the city, killing 18 people, but local security officials confirmed only one attack. Hospital sources said they were not allowed to talk about the number of casualties.

A local security official in Herat told dpa that three men riding in an auto-rickshaw fired AK-47 rifles at a bus carrying civil servants.

The official added that the rickshaw driver was killed by the security forces, but there were other attackers who managed to flee the scene.