The Afghan capital of Kabul was hit by a bomb attack on Tuesday, an eyewitness told Sputnik.
"A suicide bomb attack took place in a 400-bed hospital next to the Ministry of Public Health", the eyewitness said, adding that shots were fired after the blast.
Later, witnesses told Sputnik that another blast had been heard in the area. According to reports citing the Afghan Health Ministry, the explosion killed at least 19 and injured 50. At the same time, a source told Sputnik that the death toll reached 23.
A source later told Sputnik that the attackers on the military hospital had been eliminated. Meanwhile, the Bakhtar news agency reported that the blast was staged by Daesh* terrorists.
Later, the Italian aid group Emergency, which runs a trauma hospital in the area, said nine wounded had been brought in so far.
Several photos, allegedly taken near the hospital, were uploaded online.
The situation in the country remains uneasy after the Taliban takeover in August. In the meantime, recent reports suggest that ex-security personnel has been joining the Daesh terror group since the collapse of the US-backed government of Ashraf Ghani.
In early August, the Taliban mounted an offensive against Afghan government troops, amid the US withdrawal from the country. The Taliban entered Kabul on 15 August and later declared an end to the two-decade war in the nation.
*The Taliban and Daesh (also known as Islamic State/ISIS/IS) are terrorist groups banned in Russia and many other nations.