Gunmen attacked a police training school near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, police said.

Gunfire could be heard echoing around the camp as television footage showed the bodies of some policemen lying on the parade ground.

The attack came just weeks after another assault by gunmen on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in the same city on 3 March left eight Pakistanis dead and seven players and a coach injured.

"Unknown gunmen have attacked the police training school, we have called in elite forces," senior police official Mumtaz Sukhera told reporters.

"We do not know about casualties," Sukhera said.

The training facility is located outside Lahore at a place called Manawan.

Police cordoned off the area as commandos and armoured personnel carriers moved in, television pictures showed.

A second senior police official, Inam Wahid, said that the assailants were wearing police uniform and had occupied the training school.

According to reports at least 20 people were killed.

AFP

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