Two Canadian soldiers were killed and eight wounded Saturday when suicide bombers attacked a military patrol and a crowd of civilians in downtown Kandahar, Afghanistan.
In a separate incident, at least three Afghan civilians died and several more were injured when another suicide bomber targeted the same convoy close to the site of the first attack, Canada’s Department of National Defence said in a statement.
The suicide bomber, moving on foot, detonated his explosive vest in a crowd that had gathered to look at the initial attack site, the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement.
Canada’s defense department identified the dead as Cpl. Francisco Gomez of Edmonton, Alberta, and Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren of Montreal. The deaths bring the number of Canadians killed in Afghanistan to 19 soldiers and one diplomat, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported on its website.
“This is another example of how the Taliban have no respect for the lives of Afghan citizens and the coalition soldiers who are trying to help make Afghanistan a better place to live,” said Brig. Gen. David Fraser, commander of U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, in the statement.
Operation Mountain Thrust coalition and Afghan forces are expanding operations into areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan to hunt for the bases of the Taliban and the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Taliban fighters have responded with increased attacks, including suicide bombings, against coalition forces, Afghan soldiers, local government officials and civilians.
The wounded soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Airfield’s multinational hospital. Five have already been released from the hospital, while the other three are in good condition with non-life-threatening injuries, Canada’s defense department said.
More than 10,000 coalition and Afghan forces began Operation Mountain Thrust two months ago in Helmand and other southern provinces, targeting Taliban fighters and al-Qaeda terrorists.
