A car bomb, thought to have targeted foreign security personnel in Kabul on Saturday, has killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens more.

Three NATO contractors are believed to be among the dead. At least one of those killed is a foreigner.

The force of the blast destroyed several vehicles, including a school van and a pick-up truck left twisted and blackened, with another vehicle in flames. Paramedics carried away casualties on stretchers.

“Twelve dead bodies and 66 wounded people were taken to several Kabul hospitals,” health official Kabir Amiry said. “Some were in a bad condition.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what some reports say was a suicide bombing.

The blast, near a hospital, is the latest in a wave of attacks to hit the Afghan capital since news broke in July of the death of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Minutes after the explosion ripped through the residential street, British and US soldiers arrived at the scene in armoured vehicles.