Bomb attack kills Canadian diplomat

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A Taleban bomb attack on a Canadian military convoy killed a Canadian diplomat and at least two Afghans in the heart of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Sunday, officials said.

Canadian officials said it appeared the convoy of armoured vehicles was attacked by a suicide bomber, and that three soldiers were wounded.

Afghan doctors and police said two Afghans were killed in the attack.

"The attack occurred as the convoy approached a crowded bus stop on the main road to the camp," Lt. General Marc Dumais, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, said at a briefing in Ottawa.

"Some Afghan citizens were also killed and injured in the bombing."

The diplomat, 59-year-old Glyn Berry, was a veteran foreign affairs official who was posted to Afghanistan last August. Dumais said two of the three Canadian soldiers were in critical condition and that all three were taken to a US military hospital in Kandahar.

The wounded soldiers were identified as Pvt. William Salikin, Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey and Master Cpl. Paul Franklin.

"There is no indication the Canadians were specifically targeted and, as you know, coalition forces are regularly the subject of attacks in Afghanistan," Dumais added.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry O'Hara, a spokesman based in Kabul with the US-led coalition force, said the explosion was caused by a roadside bomb, but police said it was a suicide attack and witnesses described how a Toyota saloon rammed into a Canadian vehicle at a crossroads.

Doctor Abdul Qaoum, at Kandahar's main hospital, said at least two civilians were killed and nine others wounded.

Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf claimed responsibility.

"This attack is part of our jihad and we plan to carry out more such attacks," Yusuf said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.

Foreign troops cordoned off the site.

Taleban fighters have launched several suicide attacks, mainly targeting US-led troops and Nato peacekeepers during the past few months, but they have not caused major casualties.

Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin, speaking at the start of an election campaign trip to Laval, Quebec, on Sunday said Canadian participation in the Kandahar mission was essential to help bring peace to Afghanistan.

- REUTERS