At least six people have been killed in an explosion that rocked a grocery store frequented by foreigners in Kabul.

Both Afghans and foreigners were among the dead and it is thought a child was also killed.

The explosion started a fire inside the store and mounds of canned goods and other merchandise were strewn across the floor of the smoke-filled building.

The Taliban have said that Finest supermarket, in the heavily guarded Wazir Akbar Khan district, was targeted because it is located near to several foreign embassies.

This latest attack comes as violence in Afghanistan reaches its worst level since the overthrow of the Taliban by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.