KABUL (AFP) - An hours-long gun and suicide attack on a Kabul government compound killed at least 43 people, the health ministry said Tuesday (Dec 25), making it one of the deadliest assaults on the Afghan capital this year.

Another 10 were wounded in Monday's raid on a site where the Ministry of Public Works and other offices are located, spokesman Waheed Majroh said.

Gunmen stormed the compound mid-afternoon after detonating a car bomb at the entrance, sending terrifying government workers running for their lives. Some jumped from the windows.

Hundreds more were trapped inside buildings as security forces swarmed the area, engaging in a fierce gun battle with the attackers.

It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a religious gathering last month, killing at least 55 people.