Marshal Fahim National Defence University. Photo: Macecgroup 

KABUL: Gunmen launched a pre-dawn attack on a military academy in Kabul on Monday, security officials and sources told AFP, in an ongoing assault that marks the latest violence to strike the Afghan capital.

Some of the attackers at the Marshal Fahim Military Academy have been killed, an Afghan security source said, adding the gunmen had not managed to enter the academy.

Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid told AFP there had been rocket and gunfire but now "it is calm".

Witnesses told AFP they heard several explosions and gunfire at around 5am (0030 GMT) at the academy on the outskirts of Kabul where high-ranking military officers are trained.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the raid, which comes days after a Taliban suicide attacker driving an explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a crowded area of the city, killing and wounding hundreds. 

The blasts occurred days after an ambulance bomb in the center of Kabul killed more than 100 people and just over a week after a separate attack on the Intercontinental Hotel killed more than 20.

Both those attacks were claimed by the Taliban.

In October, a suicide attacker rammed a car full of explosives into a bus carrying cadets from the defense university, which is home to one of Afghanistan?s main officer training schools, killing 15 of them.

This is a developing story and initial reports may vary as further information is made available.