Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for an attack that targeted Afghanistan's largest military hospital on Tuesday.

Senior Taliban official Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack killed at least seven people – three women, a child and three Taliban guards.

"No one was killed inside the hospital," he said, adding that five attackers were also killed.

An AFP report later said that a senior Taliban commander, Hamdullah Mokhlis, was among the deceased, citing unnamed officials.

Two explosions hit the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital on Tuesday, followed by an assault by a group of IS gunmen, all of whom were killed within 15 minutes, the Taliban commander said.

He said Taliban special forces dropped by helicopter had prevented the attackers from entering the hospital itself, with all of them killed at the entrance or in the courtyard.

The attack is the latest among the growing attacks and killings since the Taliban retook power in the country in August, after the U.S. and its allies pulled out their last troops from the country in a rushed way following after decades of war in Afghanistan.

In August, a bombing by IS gunmen at Kabul International Airport killed more than 150 civilians and 13 U.S. soldiers. 

The Sardar Daud Khan hospital has been targeted before. IS gunmen mounted an attack on the hospital in 2017, killing more than 30 people.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), along with Pakistan and some other countries, condemned the attack.

"Attacks targeting medical personnel and civilians seeking treatment are violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Those responsible need to be held to account," UNAMA said in a tweet.

Iran's foreign ministry later also condemned the attack. Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said Iran deplored any act of terror against ordinary people and offered sympathy to the families of the victims.

(With input from Reuters)