Canadian Forces colonel killed in Kabul suicide attack
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Tue. May. 18 2010 12:50 PM ET
A deadly suicide bombing in Kabul has claimed the life of a Canadian Forces colonel.
Col. Geoff Parker died Tuesday, after a car bomber attacked a NATO convoy, killing 18 people in total, including five U.S. soldiers and 12 civilians.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said "there were casualties among the NATO forces as well as among civilians -- women, children and schoolchildren."
The deadly blast wrecked nearly 20 vehicles, including five SUVs in the NATO convoy.
Condemning the attack, NATO Secretary-General Andres Fogh Rasmussen said the violence would not deter members from their mission.
"NATO remains committed to its mission to protect the Afghan people and to strengthen Afghanistan's ability to resist terrorism," Rasmussen said in Brussels.
The Canadian Press reports that Parker is the highest-ranking member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan.
He died in the deadliest attack NATO troops suffered in Kabul this year.
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the bomber was from Kabul and carried 750 kilograms of explosives in his car.
The bomber had been targeting the NATO convoy, Mujahid said.
According to his official Department of National Defence biography, Parker was a career solider who signed up for the military in 1989 when he was a student at the University of Western Ontario.
After graduating from UWO with an undergraduate degree in engineering science, Parker later earned two master's degrees -- one in electrical engineering, the other in defence studies -- from the Royal Military College.
He is married and has two children.
Parker, who is originally from Oakville, Ont., is the 145th Canadian soldier to be killed during the Afghan mission.
Two civilians -- diplomat Glyn Berry and Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang -- have also died.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
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