“According to preliminary reports, a number of people were killed and injured,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani told Reuters.
Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said the blast targeted a hotel on Gulfaroshi Street in the commercial Shahr-e-Naw neighbourhood, an area that includes large office buildings, shopping complexes, restaurants and embassies, and is considered one of the safest parts of the capital.
“An explosion occurred in a hotel on Gulfaroshi Street in Shahr-e-Naw, the fourth district of Kabul city, causing casualties,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said without detailing the cause.
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Abdul Mateen Qani, the interior ministry spokesman, told AFP: “We do have casualties, both wounded and killed.”
An AFP journalist saw firefighters clearing the site and an ambulance, with police officers surrounding the area.
Two Chinese citizens were seriously wounded, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported, citing a restaurant employee.
An Afghan security guard was killed and the restaurant was severely damaged, Xinhua said.
Flower sellers usually work in the vicinity, which also hosts a hospital and multiple restaurants.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
The Taliban took control of the war-torn country in 2021 and said it would restore security, but attacks have continued, many of them claimed by the local affiliate of the Islamic State militant group.