The explosion appeared to have hit a restaurant in Shahr-e-Naw district of the Afghan capital. In the first few minutes after the blast, a police spokesman, Khalid Zadran, had identified the facility affected as a hotel.
The Italian NGO, EMERGENCY, said its surgical centre in Kabul had received 20 people from the blast, including seven who were already dead when they arrived. It noted the number of casualties was "still provisional".
Those injured included four women and a child, the organisation's Country Director in Afghanistan, Dejan Panic, said.
"The wounded, some of whom are being assessed for surgery, have suffered lacerations and bruises," he added.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the blast had caused both deaths and injuries but did not have any details on the numbers.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said two Chinese people had been seriously injured and a security guard killed in the blast which, it said, had occurred at a restaurant.
Footage aired by local television station Tolo News and filmed through a car windscreen showed people in the street with smoke and dust billowing behind them.
The explosion occurred on Monday in the Shahr-e-Naw area of the capital, which is home to foreigners and thought to be one of the most secure areas in Kabul.
“According to preliminary reports, a number of people were killed and injured,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani told the Reuters news agency, adding that more details would be released later.
The Italian NGO Emergency said a medical facility it oversees in Kabul had received 20 people from the blast, seven of whom were dead when they arrived. The organisation said the casualty figures were “still provisional”.
“Among the wounded are four women and a child,” Dejan Panic, the NGO’s country director, said in a statement.
No group has claimed responsibility for an attack and there was no immediate word on the cause of the explosion. Authorities said they were investigating.
The AFP news agency quoted Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran as saying the explosion happened “in a hotel”, without detailing the cause.
Videos shared by the Afghan news channel Tolo News show a street littered with debris and dust in the aftermath of the explosion.
Blasts in Kabul and across Afghanistan have been rarer since the Taliban returned to power after the United States withdrawal in 2021, but ISIL (ISIS) affiliates are still active in the country and carry out sporadic attacks