"A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle, packed with explosives as people gathered outside the district`s police headquarters building in Guzara district," General Sayed Agha Saqeb, Herat provincial police chief, told PTI over phone.
The massive explosion broke a long spell of peace in the region, where security is being gradually handed over to Afghan army by the NATO alliance.
An Interior Ministry statement said, "Two bombers were driving a car, packed with explosive materials, wanted to enter to the Guzara district of the Herat province, but they were stopped by the police."
"When they were stopped, they blew up the car killing 11 people (8 civilians and 3 policemen) and wounding 22 civilians, including children and women," it said.
Herat police chief Agha Saqeb said the bombers triggered the explosions as people were waiting to go inside to meet the district chief for their problems and other issues.
Police tried to stop the bombers but they succeeded in detonating explosives at the gate, creating mayhem. Witnesses said they saw a lot of mangled bodies at the spot. The incident happened near of the Guzara civil hospital and officials from that hospital claim that 24 wounded people from this incident registered in the hospital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suicide car bombings are hallmarks of Taliban.