AFGHANISTAN: Canadian convoy attacked in southern Afghanistan

Canadian soldiers escaped unscathed after an attack on their convoy in southern Afghanistan. A roadside bomb exploded near a Canadian convoy just south of the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Thursday (July 26), but there were no injuries to either soldiers or civilians, Canadian forces said. Sixty-six Canadian forces have died in Afghanistan since the Taliban government was toppled in 2001. "In response to a suicide bombing, there was a vehicle that struck one of our G-31 vehicles, flipping it on its side. Fortunately there were absolutely no injuries, no casualties. I talked to the guys. They're all doing fine," said an unidentified male Canadian military spokesman. "We have no indication of any Afghan casualties and that's good news as well. This is just another tactic used by insurgents and fortunately our vehicle held up. It's an indication to the strength of the vehicles that we have. It doesn't stop us from doing our job. We're here to help the Afghans," he said. Separately, one NATO soldier was killed on Thursday in a clash in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said. Violence has surged in Afghanistan in the past 18 months, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban's government in 2001. Civilian deaths are a sensitive issue for President Hamid Karzai's government and the foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military. More than 330 civilians have been killed in foreign troops operations this year alone in Afghanistan, according to Afghan officials and Western aid workers. Faced with criticism over perceived lack of economic and reconstruction development, rising crime, rampant corruption and booming illegal drugs, Karzai has warned that civilian deaths would have bad consequences for his government and the troops.

ITN Source | July 27, 2007

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