“We are deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the tragic loss of three of our team members in Kabul, Afghanistan today,” the French group said in a statement.

“On behalf of the Sodexo community, I want to say that our hearts are with their families, friends and colleagues,” said chief executive Denis Machuel.

“Sodexo is working closely with the authorities in Kabul and will share further information when available. We can confirm that the employees were of Malaysian, Indian and Macedonian nationalities. We are putting in place a psychological support line for our local employees.”

In Kabul on Thursday, Afghan police said they recovered the bodies of three foreign nationals who had been abducted and killed, in the latest incident targeting foreigners in the war-torn capital.

A spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said that the victims all worked for a logistics company in Kabul and were from India, Macedonia and Malaysia.

“At this stage we think it is a terrorist incident,” police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP.

The killings come as Kabul has been rocked by an increasing number of attacks in recent months as Islamic State (IS) and Taliban insurgents target security forces and government installations