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Kabul 'bomb attack' on US embassy Kabul bomb attack near US embassy
(about 8 hours later)
A suspected suicide bomber has struck close to the entrance to the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, witnesses and police say. At least four civilians have been killed in a suicide bomb attack near the American embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials say.
At least one person, reportedly a civilian, was killed, although one police official said more had died. About 20 others were injured when a man driving a car blew himself up.
Reports said the bomber detonated explosives about 200m from the heavily guarded entrance to the US compound. A spokesman for the embassy, which was closed for a Thanksgiving Day event, said none of its staff had been killed or injured.
Security in Afghanistan has become a key concern as the country faces an increasingly strong Taleban insurgency. Violence across Afghanistan has soared to levels not seen since the Taleban were driven from power in 2001.
Kabul's police chief, Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, said one person had been killed and six injured. The embassy is close to government buildings and one of the city's major landmarks, Massoud Circle.
However, the city's head of criminal investigations told reporters that four had died in the bombing. The attack took place early in the morning, when many people were out on the streets heading to work.
The Associated Press said the US embassy was hosting a Thanksgiving Day event, and Americans and others foreigners were entering the compound at the time of the explosion. It is a public holiday at the US embassy, although Thanksgiving Day celebrations were due to be held later on Thursday.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kabul says all roads leading to the blast site were cordoned off, leading to massive traffic jams.
Ambulances ferried the wounded to hospital while police and security teams sifted through the blast wreckage looking for evidence.