Canadians wounded in Afghan blast
In two separate incidents in Afghanistan two Canadian soldiers have been wounded by a roadside bomb, and US-led soldiers have shot dead a man who was about to attack a convoy with a hand grenade.
The roadside bomb exploded in the Sangeen district of Helmand province in the south of the country and, according to Canadian military officials, struck a vehicle belonging to a reconstruction team.
Lieutenant Mark McIntyre said: “Two Canadian soldiers have been slightly wounded in Helmand province today when their Bison armoured vehicle was hit by an explosion.”
A spokesman, saying he represented the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to AFP news agency.
Canada has 2,300 soldiers in southern Afghanistan and took command in February of a multinational force fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda members.
Eleven Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.
Elsewhere in the eastern province of Nangarha a militant stepped out of a vehicle in the Batikot district and prepared to throw a grenade at a passing military convoy according to Ghafur Khan, a spokesman for the local police.
Coalition soldiers fired at the man, killing him before he could throw the grenade, which then exploded, Khan said.