Suicide bomb kills 4 Afghans near U.S. embassy

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber struck a convoy of foreign troops near the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Thursday, killing four civilians, the government said.

Doubts about the prospects of stability in Afghanistan have gone up with violence hitting its worst level this year since the Taliban's removal despite the increasing number of foreign troops.

After a string of suicide attacks in Kabul last year and this year, including a July attack on the Indian embassy that killed 58 people, police have blocked off a number of roads in the capital and introduced more security checks.

While violence has steadily increased across the rest of the country, there have been fewer attacks in Kabul this year, though those that have occurred have struck more high-profile targets.

The presidential palace said four civilians were killed in the attack on Thursday. Another 20 people, all of them civilians, were wounded, a public health ministry doctor said.

"It was 8:30 (0400 GMT) this morning when a suicide car bomb blew up here," said Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi.

The attack happened while a military convoy was passing, he said."

The attack happened on a road, some 150 meters from a traffic junction with access to the U.S. embassy and the Health Ministry. No one from the embassy was hurt.

"All embassy staff are accounted for," said U.S. embassy spokesman Mark Stroh. Most embassy staff were off work for the U.S. Thanksgiving public holiday.

Spokesmen for international troops confirmed the blast, but were unable to provide any details.

Separately, a roadside bomb killed one soldier from the NATO-led force and wounded a few others in southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, an alliance official in Kabul said.

He did not give identity of the victims.

(Reporting by Kabul newsroom; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)