KABUL: At least 14 people were killed — including newborns and nurses — when gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in the Afghan capital followed by a suicide attack an hour later on a funeral which left at least 24 dead, on Tuesday.

The latest violence comes as Afghanistan grapples with myriad crises, including a rise in militant operations across the country, a surge in coronavirus infections, and a reduction in foreign military support.

Three gunmen held siege the Barchi National Hospital in Kabul for hours after the early-morning attack before security forces killed them in a clearance operation, the interior ministry said.

Heavily armed security forces were seen carrying infants away from the scene — at least one wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket.

"The fatalities also include mothers and nurses," interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said.

Some 15 people were wounded and more than 100 — including three foreign nationals — were rescued, he said.

The hospital is located in the west of the city, home to the capital’s minority Hazara community — a frequent target of Daesh militants.

A paediatrician who fled the hospital told AFP he heard a loud explosion at the entrance of the building.

"The hospital was full of patients and doctors, there was total panic inside," he said, asking not to be named.

The hospital is supported by the humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and a number of foreigners were working at the hospital.

Tuesday’s attack was the latest hitting the country’s already stretched health sector, with facilities and medical personnel frequently caught in the crossfire during decades of war in the country.

"We call on all sides to stop attacking hospitals and health workers," said deputy health minister in the city, Waheed Majroh.

Around an hour after the Kabul assault, a suicide bomber killed at least 24 people at the funeral of a local police commander in eastern Nangarhar province, according to provincial spokesman Ataullah Khogyani.

The attacker detonated explosives in the middle of the ceremony.

Amir Mohammad, who was wounded in the blast, said thousands of people had gathered for the funeral, an event that often draws huge crowds in Afghanistan.

The Taliban denied involvement in either attack.

Offensives against Daesh 

The violence comes just a day after four roadside bombs exploded in a northern district of Kabul, wounding four civilians including a child.

Those bombings were later claimed by Daesh, according to the SITE intelligence group.

They were just the latest in a string of Daesh attacks on the capital.

In March at least 25 people were killed by a gunman at a Sikh temple in Kabul in an attack later claimed by the group.

The militant group was also responsible for an infamous attack in March 2017 on one of the country’s largest hospitals, when gunmen disguised as doctors stormed the Kabul building and killed dozens.

The group has recently suffered mounting setbacks after being hunted by US and Afghan forces as well as in Taliban offensives targeting their fighters, but it still retains the ability to launch major assaults on urban centres.

The Taliban have largely refrained from launching major attacks on Afghan cities since February, when they signed a landmark withdrawal deal with the US meant to pave the way for peace talks with the Kabul government.

Under the agreement, the Taliban promised not to target forces from the US-led coalition, but made no such pledge toward Afghan troops and have stepped up attacks in the provinces.

The deal will see all US and foreign forces leave Afghanistan over the next year. Thousands of US troops have already gone, with a drawdown to 8,600 expected within months.

In October 2015 US air strikes destroyed an MSF hospital in the northern city of Kunduz, killing 42 people. The city had earlier been seized by the Taliban.

Pakistan condemns attack

Meanwhile, Pakistan strongly condemned the "inhuman and cowardly terrorist attack on the medical facility and suicide attack on a funeral in Nangarhar province". 

"These terrorist acts are particularly despicable as they take place in the holy month of Ramzan and at a time when Afghanistan is grappling with COVID-19 pandemic," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"We extend heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of victims and prayers for early recovery for those injured. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the Afghan people in this hour of grief," the Foreign Office said.

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and will continue to support a peaceful and stable Afghanistan," it added.

EU condemns 'evil' Afghanistan attacks

Furthermore, the EU's diplomatic chief condemned attacks and termed it as "acts of evil".

"There are few words that can do justice to the horrors we have witnessed today in Afghanistan," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

"To target and kill mothers, newly born babies and nurses, as well as bereaved and mourning families, are acts of evil and show an appalling degree of inhumanity."

Borrell demanded the perpetrators be brought to justice and renewed a call for a permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan.