Afghanistan police and officials investigate the site of a suicide attack in Kabul

BBC

Up to 12 people are reported to have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a minibus carrying foreigners near the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The attack happened on a major highway leading to the international airport, reports the BBC.

Afghan insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami has claimed responsibility for the blast, which it says was in response to a recent anti-Islam video.

Eyewitnesses counted six bodies but officials say up to 12 people have died, most of them foreigners.

Reports say the vehicle was transporting international staff working at the airport.

An eyewitness said the suicide attacker, believed to be an 18-year-old girl, was in another vehicle and appeared to target the minibus.

Zubair Sediqqi, a spokesperson for Hezb-e-Islami, has said that a female suicide bomber carried out the attack in response to the Innocence of Muslim film.

The amateur video produced in the US insults the Prophet Muhammed and has sparked widespread protests across the Muslim world, some of which have turned violent.

The majority of the dead are thought to be foreigners, with reports saying they worked at the airport, possibly for an international courier company.

The BBC's correspondent in Kabul says that three Afghans, including a passerby and a mechanic, were also killed in the blast.

There has been no confirmation of the nationalities of the passengers.

Witnesses at the scene of the attack said there was smoke billowing into the sky and a heavy police deployment, causing queues of traffic along the motorway.