A powerful car bomb has killed at least 16 people in the Afghan capital Kabul, including seven foreigners.

Two American soldiers are believed to be among those killed.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the Friday morning blast.

Mohammed Haneef, a Taliban spokesman, told an Aljazeera correspondent in Islamabad that the suicide attack was carried by Shah Wali, from Nangrahar province, eastern Afghanistan.

Mangled remains

A journalist saw two bodies being carried away from the crowded area in an ambulance, and body parts scattered around the site of the explosion in the city centre.

A policeman at the scene said he feared the number of casualties could be "very high".

Reports said the car that had carried the bomb was split into two and was in flames.

Rubble was flung about 50 meters from the site, about 100 meters from the embassy.

Hamidullah, a traffic policemen, said: "It was a huge explosion. Suddenly everything got dark. I lay down. When I stood up I saw two of my colleagues were wounded."

Photo Caption

An Afghan policeman on patrol in the capital Kabul