Canada in Afghanistan

[John McGillivray]

Suicide bomber targets Canadian convoy in Panjwaii
Updated Tue. Dec. 11 2007 10:52 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A suicide car bomber attacked a Canadian convoy in southern Afghanistan today.
No Canadians were injured but a teenager and a child were evacuated to a Kandahar hospital, CTV's Murray Oliver reported from Kandahar.
The attack occurred around 3 p.m. local time as the convoy was returning to Kandahar Air Field after re-supplying Canadian troops in the field, said Oliver.
A man in a grey van parked on the side of the road detonated his explosives as the lead vehicle in the convoy pulled up beside him.
"The Canadian vehicle was a Nyala -- which is one of the newest and most impressive Canadian armoured vehicles -- it didn't sustain any damage at all," said Oliver.
Normally, Taliban activity quiets down in the winter because it's harder for the Taliban to import explosives via mountain passes from Pakistan, said Oliver.
"It's possible that there's going to be a burst of activity just prior to the winter passes being full," said Oliver. "But it's also possible that this is some kind of retaliation for the attacks the Taliban are encountering really throughout southern Afghanistan."
Provincial Police Chief Sayed Agha Saqib said the bomber died in the attack.
Saqib told The Associated Press that the Taliban also ambushed another convoy of NATO supply trucks on the main highway connecting Kandahar and Herat.
The attack provoked a two-hour battle that left five policemen and eight insurgents dead. No NATO casualties have been reported.

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