KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A joint Canadian and Afghan army patrol was attacked Friday by a suicide bomber, southwest of Kandahar.
Two Canadian soldiers and two Afghan soldiers were wounded in the incident, which took place about 40 kilometres from the city.
The suicide bomber was on foot, said Capt. Amber Bineau, a spokeswoman for the Canadian army battle group in Kandahar.
She said the two Canadians were evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Airfield and were able to “walk into the medical facility on their own.”
The names of wounded Canadians are normally not released, but Bineau said the two soldiers would notify their families.
The four soldiers were on patrol at about 10 a.m. local time in the village of Nalgham, in Zhari district, when the bomber struck.
No further details about the incident were released.
The attack came just over a week after a Canadian soldier was killed while on foot patrol in the Pashmul region, outside Kandahar City.
Cpl. Michael Starker, a Calgary paramedic, was shot and killed May 6. Another Canadian was injured, but is expected to recover.
It was also the second suicide bombing this week in Afghanistan.
An attacker, disguised as a woman and wearing a burka, blew himself up Wednesday outside a police station in a small southwestern province of Farah. That blast killed 12 people and wounded 27 others.
Provincial Gov. Rohul Amin said the bomber was a woman. But the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the blast, identified the attacker as a man named Mullah Khalid who was wearing the burka as a disguise.
The explosion occurred in Dialaram, a small town on the main road running through the west and south of the country.
Mr. Amin said five police officers, including a district police chief, and seven civilians were among the dead. He said the wounded included at least 11 police.
The bomber reportedly approached on foot and detonated the explosives on a busy street where police were inspecting vehicles. A provincial official said police tried to stop the attack seconds before the explosion.
Insurgents launched an estimated 140 suicide bombings last year, when more than 8,000 people, mostly militants, died in insurgency-related violence. At least 1,200 people have died so far this year.
11:21ET 16-05-08
(Via Satellite Feed)
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