Canadian military officials have concluded the axe-wielding terrorist who bludgeoned a Canadian soldier Saturday was actually a Taliban agent kicking off an orchestrated ambush.
The barbaric attack marked the first publicly confirmed battle between Canadians and Taliban forces since Canada's army arrived in force in southern Afghanistan earlier this year.
The army rarely reveals much of the intelligence it gathers, but Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the head of Canada's Task Force Afghanistan, confirmed the Taliban affiliation of the attacker, who was only identified as an Afghan in his 20s.
"This individual was a Taliban," Gen. Fraser said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
The attack was just one of a series of skirmishes in the past two weeks that have been designed to test the courage and resolve of Canadian troops under fire, Gen. Fraser said.
But he said the spate of attacks aren't as co-ordinated as people might think.
"Are they testing Canadians? Yes," Gen. Fraser said.
"There is a lose affiliation among the groups, but for the most part the Taliban and the other folks who are trying to destabilize (the region) are opportunistic. They don't have campaign plans. They don't think like that. They do get some direction. But it's not a cohesive organization here."
Gen. Fraser portrayed Saturday's ambush during a community meeting as a Taliban attack on the Pashtun honour code.
The code dictates that guests are to be treated with honour and hospitality when invited into a community. Gen. Fraser said such an attack by the Taliban is unprecedented.
"This is not about us any more, this is about the Taliban attacking their own people," Gen. Fraser said.
The purported Taliban attacker snuck up on Capt. Trevor Greene and struck him in the head with an axe as the Canadian officer was sitting down with village leaders about village 70 kilometres north of Kandahar.
The attacker was quickly gunned down by Canadian soldiers, but not before he inflicted a major head injury on Capt. Greene. Canadian and Afghan forces then exchanged fire with other insurgents, including one who threw a grenade.
Capt. Greene is in serious but stable condition and is being treated at an American hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He was promoted from lieutenant to captain while in hospital Sunday.
The savage attack even shocked soldiers who have come under regular attack in recent weeks.
Several times soldiers have come under fire from a combination of rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. No Canadians have been seriously hurt in those attacks.
Suicide and roadside bombs are also a regular fixture and have killed one Canadian and wounded several others this year.
Gen. Fraser, who is also head of the multinational brigade in southern Afghanistan, said he thinks Canadian troops are passing the test so far.
"We're not going to be bullied away from here, we're going to lean into this," he said.
He pointed to a rocket attack on a safe house in Gumbad in February which was answered by Canadians with a barrage of mortar rounds.
"They fired some rockets at us, but guess what. Soldiers fired a whole lot more back at them and there hasn't been a repeat of that incident there," he said.
Canadians have faced frequent attacks from improvised explosive devices on a stretch of road known as IED Alley between Kandahar and the main coalition base at the city's airport.
Most recently, a suicide attack wounded several soldiers Friday.
"That road has been particularly troublesome this week, it's been a tough week along there," Gen. Fraser said.
"It doesn't take much for somebody to come in and fire a couple rounds, fire off an RPG. We've got measures to deal with that, but we're not going to put people every 20 feet along that road. That's not the idea."
There are about 2,200 Canadians who are tasked with assisting with security and reconstruction in Kandahar province.
Canadians have also suffered a spate of road accidents that have killed two people. In total, three Canadians have died and more than two dozen have been injured in 2006.
The bodies of Master Cpl. Tim Wilson and Cpl. Paul Davis were returned to Canada on Sunday.