Kabul, Dec 24 (IANS): A huge fire razed two markets in Kabul Sunday and turned over 600 shops to ashes, police said.

Two wholesale garment markets named -- Rahis and Nasiri -- markets caught fire at about Saturday morning and the fire was on till Sunday afternoon, Xinhua quoted an Afghan police official as saying.

Over 100 fire fighters were pressed into service to douse the flames.

The two garment markets were located in Mandawi, a main commercial district which accommodates hundreds of garment and toiletry wholesale markets in the city with a population of more than five million.

Though the cause of the incident could not be immediately determined, the shopkeepers believed that the incident might have occurred due to shot circuit.

"The damages could be millions of dollars," said a shopkeeper, adding hundreds of shops around the area escaped the fire as fire fighters were working hard to bring the situation under control.