At least 15 killed as blasts, gunfire hit Kabul hospital

At least 15 people were killed and 34 wounded when two explosions followed by gunfire hit Afghanistan's biggest military hospital in Kabul, a Taliban security official said on Tuesday.

The explosions took place at the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in central Kabul and security forces had been sent to the area, Interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty said.

There was no confirmation of casualty numbers but a Taliban security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were at least 15 dead and 34 wounded.

Italian aid group Emergency, which runs a trauma hospital some 3 km from the site of the blast, said nine wounded had been brought in so far.

Photographs shared by residents showed a plume of smoke over the area of the blasts near the former diplomatic zone in the Wazir Akbar Khan area of the city and witnesses said at least two helicopters were flying over the area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the official Bakhtar news agency quoted witnesses saying a number of Islamic State fighters entered the hospital and clashed with security forces.

The blasts add to a growing list of attacks and killings since the Taliban completed their victory over the previous Western-backed government in August, undermining their claim to have restored security to Afghanistan after decades of war.

A health worker at the hospital, who managed to escape, said he heard a large explosion followed by a couple of minutes of gunfire. About 10 minutes later, there was a second, larger explosion, he said.

He said it was unclear whether the blasts and the gunfire were inside the sprawling hospital complex.