Gunmen and suicide bombers launched a pre-dawn attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a military compound in Kabul Monday, killing 11 soldiers in the third major assault in the Afghan capital in recent days. The series of assaults, including one of the deadliest bombs in Kabul in recent years, have left already war-weary citizens grief-stricken and angry as the Taliban and IS escalate their offensive.

Monday's attack on an Afghan army battalion killed at least 11 soldiers and wounded 16, a defence ministry spokesman said. "Two bombers detonated themselves and two were killed by our forces and one was detained alive," the spokesman, Dawlat Waziri, told AFP, adding that the attack was over.

Officials said the men, armed with a rocket, two Kalashnikovs and at least one suicide vest, had attempted to breach an army battalion near the Marshal Fahim military academy, where high-ranking officers are trained. An officer at the academy told AFP he could hear an explosion and gunfire, while other witnesses said the first blasts and gunfire came around 5:00 am (0030 GMT).

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018