An explosion at a restaurant in downtown Kabul on Monday killed at least seven people and wounded about a dozen more, according to police and an Italian charity running a surgical unit in the city. Afghan authorities did not officially say what caused the blast, noting it was under investigation. But the president of neighbouring Pakistan issued a statement attributing the explosion to a bomb.

The blast occurred in a Chinese restaurant in the Shahr-e-Naw district of the Afghan capital, according to Kabul police command spokesman Khalid Zadran. He said the restaurant was jointly owned by an Afghan man, a Chinese national and his wife. The restaurant was popular with Chinese Muslims, Zadran said, adding that one Chinese national and six Afghans were killed and several others were wounded. The blast occurred near the restaurant`s kitchen, the police spokesman said, and the cause was under investigation.