At least 15 people have died after a truck packed with explosives was detonated by Taliban militants outside a hospital in southern Afghanistan.

Many of the victims in the attack on Qalat city were doctors and patients, according to local media reports.

Reports have since emerged of at least another 15 civilian deaths, this time in an airstrike aimed at Islamic State militants in the east.

Last month, at least 473 civilians were killed in the conflict, the BBC found.

A senior defence ministry official in the capital told Reuters news agency the “huge” bomb had been carried by a “mini-truck” before it was detonated near the hospital in Qalat.

It was the main health facility in Zabul province, according to reports.

The Taliban have said they were targeting government intelligence offices, next door to the hospital.