At least 20 people were killed when a gunfight broke out at a wedding party in northern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

At least 20 people were killed when a gunfight broke out at a wedding party in northern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

The clash, which police blamed on quarrels between guests, erupted late Sunday in Deh Salah district in Baghlan.

The once-tranquil province has recently been plagued by growing insecurity as the Taliban insurgency spreads north from its southern and eastern strongholds.

"As a result of the clashes, 20 people were killed and 10 others were wounded," provincial police spokesman Jawed Basharat told AFP, adding that the incident appeared to be the result of a local dispute.

Armed men traded verbal barbs before the gunfight broke out and the victims were all male guests at the wedding aged between 14 and 60, said district police chief Gulistan Qusani.

"A local security official fired in the air after the verbal exchange heated up... and then both sides started trading fire," Qusani told AFP, giving a higher death toll of 21.

Baghlan police spokesman Sultan Mohammad Ebadi said an official delegation had been sent to the site -- a Tajik-dominated area that is largely unaffected by the Taliban insurgency -- to investigate the matter.