A rchive Date
[ 23-01-2006 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/01/23/1406892-ap.html
Roadside bomb next to Canadian convoy in Afghanistan
January 23, 2006
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - A bomb exploded just feet away from a Canadian military convoy in Afghanistan Monday morning, but no soldiers were injured, a Canadian military officer said.
The close call came just over a week after a Canadian diplomat was killed and three Canadian soldiers severely injured in a suicide attack in the troubled country's south.
Capt. Francois Giroux said the explosion occurred while about a dozen soldiers were on a routine patrol in Kandahar. None of the vehicles in the patrol were damaged by the blast.
"There was a bit of dust on the hood of one vehicle," he said.
Giroux said it shouldn't be assumed the device was small because there were no injuries or damage. He said the power of the explosion could be affected by where the device was placed in the ground, how deep it was, and how it was covered, among other factors.
There was confusion over whether the incident involved Canadian or American soldiers.
Abdul Hakim Hunger, deputy police chief of Kandahar, was quoted as saying first that a device exploded near a convoy consisting of Canadian and Afghan troops. But he later said the convoy was made up of U.S. and Afghan soldiers.
It was not immediately clear whether Hunger and Giroux were talking about the same incident or separate attacks.
"I can confirm that a device did explode near Canadian soldiers, and as far as I know there was only one incident," said Giroux.
Rising violence in southern Afghanistan, particularly an increase in suicide bombings, has reinforced fears that this country may see more assaults modelled on those in Iraq.
Monday's attack on the Canadians came eight days after Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry was killed. Two of the injured soldiers in last Sunday's suicide bombing - Pte. William Salikin and Master Cpl. Paul Franklin - are set to return to Canada Tuesday.
It is not known whether the third injured soldier, Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey, who remains in a medically induced coma and paralysis, will be well enough to travel home with them.
Twenty suicide attacks have rocked Afghanistan since late September, compared with just four in the first nine months of 2005, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press, signalling a tactical shift by Taliban and al-Qaida militants.
Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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