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A suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance to Kabul's biggest shopping centre.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks targeting foreigners in Kabul, highlighting its ability to strike in the heavily-defended capital even as US and Afghan forces lead a major offensive in the country's south.
Sixteen people have been killed and dozens wounded after suicide attackers with a car bomb targeted a neighbourhood filled with foreigners.
The four-hour assault began early in the morning with a car bomb that levelled a residential hotel used by Indian doctors in an area of Kabul that had been considered relatively safe.
There was then a series of explosions, before gun battles broke out between insurgents and the Afghan police.
Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and the United Nations has also added its outrage about the blast.
Dr Mohammed Azizi, who witnessed the attacks, says there was a "massive explosion" which "smashed windows and curtains".
Another Indian doctor, Subodh Sanjivpaul, says he saw several bodies lying on the ground when he eventually left his residence.
"I confined in my bathroom for at least three hours when the firing was going on. First car bomb exploded... then the full roof came on my head," he said.
India has confirmed nine of its citizens were killed. A French filmmaker and an Italian, who was an adviser to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, were also killed.
Indian external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash says Indians are "shocked at the inhumane attack on innocent lives".
Afghan Government spokesman Hamid Elmi says the attack was unjustified.
"The terrorist attack in Kabul and killing innocent people is an unjustified and un-Islamic and unhuman act," he said.
Attacks on guesthouses used by foreigners have also increased in recent months. Eight people were killed in a suicide attack near a guesthouse and hotel in December and five UN staff were killed in a similar assault in October.
United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon has condemned the violence, saying that the targeting of civilians demonstrates, once again, a senseless disregard for human life.
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