About 20 people were killed and over 50 injured in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, the latest assault to rock Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power.

Two bomb blasts struck close to the entrance of the sprawling site followed by reports of shooting inside the hospital, agency reports said. 

"Nineteen dead bodies and about 50 wounded people have been taken to hospitals in Kabul," a health ministry official was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. 

Tuesday's attack has not yet been claimed by any group, but the Islamic State-Khorasan, which is ideologically opposed to the ruling Taliban and has been behind a series of attacks in recent weeks, is seen as a prime suspect. 

The hospital, which treats wounded soldiers from both the Taliban and former Afghan security forces, was previously attacked in 2017, when gunmen disguised as medical personnel killed at least 30 people in an hours-long siege.

A Taliban media spokesman confirmed two explosions hit the hospital area on Tuesday. "One explosion has happened at the gate of the military hospital and a second somewhere near the hospital," he said

IS have claimed four deadly attacks since the Taliban takeover on August 15, including suicide bomb blasts targeting Shiite Muslim mosques. It regards Shiite Muslims as heretics. (SAM)