A suicide and gun attack on a Kabul government compound killed at least 29 people on Monday, an official said, in the latest bloody violence to strike the Afghan capital, reports AFP.
The raid capped a tumultuous few days in Afghanistan where officials are reeling from US President Donald Trump's plan to slash troop numbers, which many fear could harm efforts to end the 17-year war with the Taliban. It also comes after a major security shake-up in Kabul.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault on the site where the Ministry of Public Works and other offices are located, which officials declared over after more than seven hours.
At least 20 people were wounded in addition to those killed, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. Most of the victims were civilians.
Afghan forces killed three of the attackers and freed more than 350 people trapped inside the compound, Danish added. A fourth attacker died in a car bomb explosion that launched the attack.
One of the wounded civilians broke several bones after jumping from the third floor of a building to escape the attackers, an AFP correspondent at a hospital said.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the compound, with at least two military helicopters circling above.
Journalists near the scene reported hearing numerous explosions in the hours after the attack began mid-afternoon.
Ashraf, a witness who works at the Ministry of Public Works and who goes by one name, said earlier he had heard militants inside the compound exchanging gunfire with security forces.
"They are also firing at the NDS facility nearby," he told AFP after escaping the compound, referring to the Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security.
Public works ministry spokesman Mehdi Rohani spoke to AFP as he and his colleagues were fleeing to a safe room shortly after the gunmen stormed the area.
"A car bomb detonated at the entrance of the ministry's parking lot," he told AFP by mobile phone as he ran from the scene.
"I can hear some gunfire outside the building. We are fine."
- Soft targets -
The attack came after an American official told AFP late last week that Trump had decided to pull out "roughly half" of the 14,000 US forces in the country.
The unexpected move stunned and dismayed foreign diplomats and Afghan officials in Kabul who are intensifying a push to end the conflict with the Taliban.
The assault also comes a day after President Ashraf Ghani appointed Amrullah Saleh and Assadullah Khaled, both former spymasters known for their anti-Taliban and Pakistan stance, to head the interior and defence ministries, respectively.
Militants have previously attacked government ministries and departments because they are often poorly defended and seen as soft targets.
Monday's attack was the biggest in Kabul since November 28 when the Taliban detonated a vehicle bomb outside the compound of British security firm G4S, killing at least 10 people and leaving a massive crater in the road.
While there has been no official announcement of a US drawdown, the mere suggestion of the United States reducing its military presence has rattled the Afghan capital and potentially undermined peace efforts.
General Scott Miller, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said Sunday he had not received orders to pull forces out of the country.
Trump's decision apparently came Tuesday as US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban in Abu Dhabi, part of efforts to bring the militants to the negotiating table with Kabul.
Many Afghans are worried that President Ashraf Ghani's fragile unity government would collapse if US troops pulled out, enabling the Taliban to return to power and potentially sparking another bloody civil war.