At least 21 people - 13 foreigners and eight Afghans - were killed in an apparent Taliban suicide bomb and gun attack on a restaurant in a heavily fortified area of Kabul.

The assailants targeted Taverna du Liban, a Lebanese restaurant popular with expatriates and diplomats, in a neighbourhood of Kabul where many embassy buildings and offices of non-governmental organisations are located.

Friday's assault is the first one to target a civilian restaurant since the Lake Qargha attack by the Taliban in the summer of 2012.

Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul.