Kabul (dpa) – At least 40 civilians, among them many mothers and babies, were killed in three separate attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said.

Two separate attacks targeted a civilian hospital in the capital Kabul and a funeral in the eastern Nangarhar province, in a particularly deadly day in Afghanistan's ongoing conflict.

A third fatal incident occurred in western Farah province, when children were caught in mortar crossfire.

The day's violence began when three unidentified assailants in military uniform stormed a government-run hospital in the west of Kabul on Tuesday morning.

The gunmen targeted the hospital's maternity ward, run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF). They shot dead at least 14 civilians, including two newborn babies, according to interior ministry spokesperson Tariq Arian.

A further 15 people were wounded. Pictures shared on social media showed newborn babies with their mothers lying on the floor.

More than one hundred civilians were rescued from the hospital by security forces, who killed all three assailants after hours of battle, Arian said.

Meanwhile, in eastern Nangarhar province, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral, killing at least 24 people, including a local politician, local officials said. Another 68 people were wounded, among them a lawmaker.

Elsewhere, in the western Farah province, local officials said two children were killed and another wounded after they were caught in crossfire from a mortar attack.

The deadly attacks targeting children and the vulnerable prompted outcry on social media, with Amnesty International calling them "unconscionable war crimes."

"(The attacks) targeting a maternity hospital and a funeral, must awaken the world to the horrors civilians continue to face," the human rights campaign group wrote on Twitter.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks and the Taliban militant group denied involvement.

Both the Taliban and Islamic State militants are active in Afghanistan.