The attack was launched around 8 a.m. Tuesday in the city of Dahanah-ye Ghori, in Baghlan province, and police battled insurgents in the city center until they regained control in late afternoon, the provincial governor said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which first targeted a school, a clinic and the district governor’s office before overrunning a police checkpoint where the beheadings took place.

"Our main goal behind attacking the district center was to show the provincial government of Baghlan that we are capable of capturing any district in the province," said Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman.

On Wednesday, the provincial governor, Munshi Abdul Hamid, called for the Afghan central government and coalition forces to provide more security to the northern province.

"Unless the central government and the international forces provide us with all the equipment and facilities we need, we won’t be able to repel such attacks in the future," Mr. Hamid said.

Violence in Baghlan has worsened in recent years as the insurgency strengthens across the country. Baghlan was previously considered a more peaceful province in part because Pashtuns, the Afghan ethnic group that fills the Taliban’s ranks, are a minority there, according to officials from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The Taliban killed eight Afghan National Police officers, their spokesman said, including the six who were beheaded. Mr. Hamid said, however, that only six policemen were killed. Mr. Hamid also said the Afghan police killed eight insurgents, while the Taliban said only two of their fighters died.

Mr. Hamid said he wasn’t aware of any civilian casualties in Tuesday’s fighting.