Posted on 01/27/2004 1:58:16 AM PST by Clive
KABUL (CP) - One Canadian soldier was killed in an apparent suicide bomb attack in Kabul Tuesday and three others suffered non-life-threatening injuries, NATO military officials said.
One Afghan civilian also died, and eight other people were treated for injuries at local hospitals, police and doctors said. At least one of the injured Canadian soldiers walked into the military hospital at Camp Julien on his own, military officials said. One of the soldiers was flown to German medical facilities at Camp Warehouse at the Kabul International Airport where he had surgery for an eye injury.
Another was in surgery at Camp Julien for more minor injuries. The third solder had superficial wounds, according to Maj. Jay Janzen, public affairs officer for the regiment.
"They're under the best of care right now and it looks like they're going to be OK," said Janzen.
The names of the dead and injured had not been released, as their next of kin were being notified.
Camp Julien is the main Canadian base housing most of Canada's contingent of 2,000 troops in Kabul.
A smaller group of Canadians are stationed with troops from other NATO countries at Camp Warehouse, used as headquarters by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in another part of the Afghan capital.
An investigation into the explosion was underway.
A Canadian military official said a suicide bomber caused the explosion close to a bombed-out former royal palace, a major landmark overlooking Camp Julien on the road into Kabul.
"North of King's Palace we had a suicide bomber," said Maj. Jamie Morse, deputy commander of the Royal Canadian Regiment, 3rd Battalion, during a briefing with officers at Camp Julien.
"The explosives were strapped to the person's chest. There is one Canadian dead."
Military officials said the blast went off near two lightly armoured Iltis jeeps carrying six soldiers in a convoy. They were on a routine patrol about one kilometre from Camp Julien.
"There was a bump in the road, and when they slowed down to pass over it a terrorist jumped on one of the vehicles and blew himself up," Ali Jan Askaryar, head of police in the western district of Kabul, said.
A witness, Hussein Agha, said body parts were strewn on the road after the attack that happened about 8:30 a.m. local time.
International troops and local police cordoned off the scene of the attack. Nearby, an open-backed military jeep that appeared badly burned with its windows blown out was visible standing in a patch of blackened road, a white sheet lying next to it. A small Canadian flag hung from its antenna.
A civilian car also appeared to have been badly burned in the blast.
Fazel Karim Sayedi, director of the Kabul hospital where most of the injured were treated, said a 20-year-old man had died of severe abdominal injuries. The man's weeping relatives identified him as Abdul Qadir, Sayedi said.
Two other patients were in serious condition.
Khalil Amin Zada, Kabul's deputy police chief, said investigators were struggling to identify the attacker, who had a long beard. "It's difficult to tell if he's an Afghan or not," he said.
Although there have been persistent, almost daily attacks in Afghanistan by remnants of the hardline Taliban and al-Qaida, suicide attacks aren't a commonly used tactic by insurgent forces. The continuing violence in the country - more than two years after the Taliban were removed from power by a U.S.-led force - has killed more than 60 people this month alone, including 15 civilians, mostly children.
In June, four German soldiers were killed and 29 wounded in a suicide attack on their bus in one of the most serious post-Taliban attacks in the capital.
Two Canadian soldiers were killed in a mine explosion in October.
Sgt. Robert Short and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger died Oct. 2 when at least one anti-tank mine hidden on a sandy track in hills south of Kabul exploded under their vehicle during a routine patrol. Three other soldiers were injured.
An investigation into the blast was not able to establish conclusively that terrorists were behind the strike, the commander of the NATO-led force in Kabul said earlier this month.
However, Lt.-Gen. Goetz Gliemeroth of Germany said he was convinced the two soldiers died as the result of an act of terror.
Gliemeroth, head of ISAF, said he believes a man now being held by U.S. authorities in Afghanistan was responsible for the attack.
Abu Bakr was arrested Oct. 7 by Kabul police, with the help of Canadian, British and German forces. Bakr was the Kabul-area commander of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, or HIG, described by the Canadian contingent's top soldier as the third-largest terrorist organization in Afghanistan after al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Members of the Royal Canadian Regiment Battalion Group started returning to Canada last week after finishing their tour, with the arrival of fresh troops from Valcartier, Que.
Canadians account for about 40 per cent of the 5,200-strong ISAF force in Afghanistan, which has soldiers from 34 countries. Canada will take over command of ISAF from Germany in a ceremony slated for Feb. 10.
Four other Canadian soldiers who were part of the U.S.-led war on terrorism died and eight were wounded in April 2002 when a U.S. fighter pilot mistakenly dropped a bomb on them.
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