Nine people, including a child, have died when Taliban militants launched an assault on the Afghan parliament, triggering gunfire and explosions and sending politicians scurrying for cover.

Monday’s attack came as the Afghan president’s nominee for the crucial post of defence minister was to be introduced in parliament and ended two hours later when all seven attackers, including a suicide car bomber, were dead.

Two civilians, a woman and a child, were killed in the attack, according to police and the United Nations.

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Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the attack began with a car bomb explosion near the entrance to parliament. Gunmen then attempted to storm the compound but were pushed back by security forces and eventually corralled into a nearby building that was under construction.

Sediqqi later said all seven attackers were killed by police and that no members of parliament were harmed.

Health Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kahousi said 31 civilians were wounded in the attack.

MPs amid smoke after attack on Afghan parliament in #Kabul. #Taliban claim responsability – @rConflictNews & @pajhwok pic.twitter.com/3jz94zsbxN

— Rodrigo Barbosa (@RodaLarga) June 22, 2015

Dramatic television footage of the moment the first explosion struck showed pandemonium and screams inside parliament, with Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi sitting in his chair, calmly telling politicians “it’s an electrical issue”.

MP Mohammad Reza Khoshak, who was in the chamber at the time, described hearing “a loud explosion, followed by several other smaller explosions”.

“In a few seconds the hall was filled with smoke and MPs began fleeing the building,” he told AFP.

The assault on such a high-profile target in downtown Kabul raises fresh questions about security as Afghan forces battle a resurgent Taliban for the first time without the aid of NATO forces, who ended their combat mission in December.

“First a car bomb detonated on the main road near the parliament building, then a group of attackers entered a building in front of parliament,” Kabul police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi told AFP.

Police denied that Taliban fighters had breached the high-security complex.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) strongly condemned the raid, saying it was a “clear and deliberate affront to democracy in Afghanistan”.

The recent surge in insurgent attacks has taken a heavy toll on ordinary Afghans, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.

Almost 1,000 civilians were killed during the first four months of this year, a sharp jump from the same period last year, it said.

MP Naqibullah Faiq captured this photo of smoke filling the building after the attack. Photo: Facebook: Dr-Naqibullah Faiq