Gunmen dressed as doctors attack military hospital in Kabul

Gunmen dressed as doctors have stormed a military hospital in Kabul, battling security forces inside the building for hours before the siege ended.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, in which at least four people were killed and 60 wounded, officials said.

All four attackers were also killed during the six-hour gun battle, said interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

The assault on the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital began when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the backdoor entrance to the building.

The other three attackers, carrying automatic weapons and hand grenades, then entered the complex.

Hospital administrators told the AFP news agency that they saw three attackers wearing white laboratory coats on the loose.

One worker, Abdul Qadir, told Reuters that he saw one of the gunmen, wearing a white coat, take out an AK-47 assault rifle and open fire, killing at least one patient and one hospital worker.

Security forces blocked off the roads around the building and helicopters circled over the area, as the gunmen took positions in the upper floor of the 400-bed hospital.