Injured men are transported on a truck to a hospital following a suicide attack at a funeral of a local police commander in Nangarhar on May 12, 2020. (NOORULLAH SHIRZADA / AFP)

NANGARHAR, Afghanistan - At least 24 people were killed and 68 others were wounded when a suicide bomb explosion hit a funeral in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar province on Tuesday, authorities said.

Many of the wounded received life-threatening wounds and were sent to hospitals in Kuz Kunar and provincial capital Jalalabad city

"The funeral was underway for a former Afghan local police official in Kuz Kunar district Tuesday morning. A suspected suicide bomb blast went off roughly at 11:00 am (local time), leaving the casualties," a security source told Xinhua anonymously.

Those among the killed was Abdullah Malakzai, a member of the provincial council, and a member of the national parliament sustained injuries in the incident, the source said.

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Many of the wounded received life-threatening wounds and were sent to hospitals in Kuz Kunar and provincial capital Jalalabad city.

This AFP graphic shows a map of Afghanistan locating Nangarhar province where fatalities were reported after a suicide blast at a funeral.

Further details about the incident are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement.

Islamic State Khorasan, the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State militant group, claimed responsibility for the Nangahar bombing, the SITE Intelligence Group reported. Reuters could not immediately verify the report by SITE, which tracks online jihadist activity.

Militants of the Taliban outfit and Islamic State (IS) group both have presence in the mountainous province.

Islamic State fighters first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in around 2014 and battle the Taliban as well as government and foreign forces.

With Reuters inputs