The Afghan capital Kabul has been rocked by two explosions and gunfire at the site of a military hospital.
A Taliban spokesman said the first blast happened in front of the 400-bed Sardar Daud Khan hospital and the second was nearby.
The spokesman said there had been casualties but did not give numbers. An eyewitness told the BBC there was fighting inside the hospital grounds.
Unconfirmed reports said at least 15 people had been killed and more wounded.
Photographs and video footage from Kabul showed a plume of smoke over the area and recorded the sounds of gunfire.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but Afghanistan's Bakhtar news agency quoted witnesses as saying a number of fighters from the Islamic State group had entered the hospital and clashed with security forces.
A doctor told AFP news agency he had been sent to seek shelter in a safe room.
"I can still hear gun firing inside the hospital building. I think the attackers are going from room to room," he said.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August, as the US withdrew its final troops after 20 years of conflict. A local affiliate of the Islamic State group known as Islamic State Khorasan, or IS-K, has since launched sporadic attacks targeting civilians and Taliban fighters.
A bombing by the group at Kabul international airport in August killed more than 150 civilians and 13 US soldiers.
The Sardar Daud Khan hospital has been targeted before. More than 30 people were killed and 50 others wounded in 2017 when gunmen dressed as doctors stormed the building. That attack was also claimed by the Islamic State group.
Latest Stories
-
Mrs. Gertrude Pabi Wiredu
3 mins -
Veteran Nigerian actor Zulu Adigwe is dead
4 mins -
Pioneering Oral Health: Pepsodent’s 2023 Teledentistry initiative and its path forward
14 mins -
Kumasi International Airport will open to traffic in June – Transport Minister
20 mins -
Zack Orji gives details on his health condition, brain surgeries
47 mins -
Only 3 people defected from Movement for Change to NPP – Hopeson Adorye
49 mins -
Cause of current ‘dumsor’ is financial; ECG can’t publish load-shedding timetable – Kofi Kapito
52 mins -
SML/GRA contract brought ¢2.45bn in tax revenues to the state – KPMG report
53 mins -
Paris 2024: France ready to host Ghana and rest of world – France Sports Ambassador
1 hour -
KPMG audit reveals ¢1bn paid to SML for revenue mobilisation services from 2018 until suspension
1 hour -
Renegotiate SML contract – Akufo-Addo to GRA, Finance Ministry
1 hour -
Ignore calls by IES for Energy Minister’s removal – Kofi Abrefa Afena
1 hour -
CAF Confederation Cup: Dreams FC’s Karim Zito to implement offensive strategy against Zamalek
2 hours -
We have tried all the regimes except the return of a former President – Kofi Amoabeng
2 hours -
Akufo-Addo accepts KPMG’s advice to end upstream petroleum and minerals audit service provided to GRA by SML
2 hours