At least one Afghan civilian is dead after a suicide car bomber apparently mistimed his attack on a Canadian convoy in southern Afghanistan
No Canadian soldiers were killed or wounded in the seventh bomb attack in the Kandahar area in the last 10 days.
Afghan officials at the scene said the attack killed two civilians and wounded at least seven others, but NATO officials could only confirm one death. An Afghan police officer said as many as 15 Afghans had been killed and wounded.
The convoy, comprising Canadian troops and Afghan National Army units, was passing through Kandahar city when the attack occurred, Canadian Forces spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Kris Phillips said.
The attack on the troops failed because the convoy had passed when the explosion occurred: "There was no damage to our vehicles," Phillips said.
Phillips said the convoy stopped after the blast; witnesses said the troops fired warning shots in the air.
Razaq Khan, a police official at the scene, told the Associated Press that he originally believed that 15 civilians were wounded or killed, but he did not know how many died and were injured.
Najibullah Khan, a doctor at a local hospital, said two dead and seven wounded were taken to the hospital.
Canadian troops have been the target of a number of attacks in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber in a minivan detonated explosives in the same area where the Thursday attack occurred. He died in the blast, causing only slight injuries to two Canadian soldiers.
On Nov. 27, two Canadian soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack outside Kandahar city. The funeral for Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, was held on Wednesday, while the funeral for Cpl. Albert Storm, 37, is scheduled for Friday.
Girouard was from Bathurst, N.B., while Storm was from Fort Erie, Ont.
Canada has more than 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, with the majority stationed in the volatile southern province of Kandahar. Forty-four Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since Canada sent troops to the troubled country in early 2002.
Canadian troops are part of a NATO-led force that includes troops from 37 countries.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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