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A senior IMF official and four UN employees were among 15 people killed in a suicide bomb and gun attack on a restaurant in Kabul, the BBC reported, citing officials.

Wabel Abdallah, the head of the IMF's Afghanistan office, and the UN civilian staff died in the capital's popular Taverna du Liban, in what UN chief Ban Ki-moon said was a "horrific attack."

The other victims were Afghans, a Briton and another Lebanese national.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack late on Friday.

The restaurant in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan area is popular with foreign nationals, diplomats and aid workers, and was busy with diners at the time of the attack.

A suicide attacker detonated his explosives outside the gate of the heavily-fortified restaurant, Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said.

Two gunmen then entered the restaurant and started "indiscriminately killing" people inside.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde later confirmed that Wabel Abdallah, 60, a Lebanese national, was among those who died.

Separately, the UK Foreign Office (FCO) confirmed that a British national was among those killed in the incident and that it was ready to provide consular assistance to the person's family.