The explosion was the latest of a deadly series targeting Friday prayers at mosques in recent months, some of them claimed by the militant group Islamic State.

“After prayers, when people wanted to come out from the mosque, a blast happened,” said Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran.

“All casualties are civilians, the exact number is not clear yet.”

Italian-NGO run Emergency Hospital said it had received 14 people from the blast, of whom four were dead on arrival.

The explosion took place in Wazir Akbar Khan, an area formerly home to the city’s ‘green zone’, the location of many foreign embassies and Nato, but now controlled by the ruling Taliban.

The mosque has been the target of attacks in the past, including a blast in June 2020 before the Taliban returned to power. That attack killed the mosque’s imam and wounded several people.