View larger image An Afghan victim of a suicide car bombing in Kandahar is carried into a hospital in Chaman, Pakistan for treatment, Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. (AP / Shah Khalid)
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. View larger image A Canadian soldier of the International Security Assistance Force takes pictures from his damaged vehicle in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan on Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. (AP / Allauddin Khan)
Bombing kills 38 Afghan civilians, wounds Canadians
CTV.ca News Staff
The Taliban is reportedly claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy of Canadian soldiers but killed 38 Afghan civilians.
Monday's attack occurred in Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan. Four Canadian soldiers were injured in the blast.
"A white Toyota Corolla car rammed the second vehicle in the (military) convoy as it passed through the bazaar," said Abdul Hakim, who witnessed the attack from his grocery store.
"Then there was a huge explosion. It was dust. I do not know what happened to me."
Hakim spoke to reporters from a hospital bed in Chaman, Pakistan.
The border had been temporarily closed because of Pakistan's election, but was re-opened to allow the wounded to be taken to hospital for treatment. Mohammed Akhtar, a doctor at the Chaman hospital, said nine Afghan civilians had been treated there, with one dying.
Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid said many of the 30 civilians wounded are in critical condition. He warned the death toll could still rise.
Khalid told The Canadian Press that NATO had been advised to stay out of the area because a suicide bomber had been circulating there.
"But they continue patrolling the area. We repeatedly told them not to come out until we arrest the suicide bomber."
A Canadian military spokesman said the Forces makes the decisions on where to patrol.
"We regularly receive threat warnings and obviously we go where we want to, when we want to in our area of operation," said Lt.-Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky. "We obviously take notice of these warnings but our aim is to operate freely within our area of operation despite those."
All four injured Canadian soldiers were able to phone their families themselves, and three have since been released from hospital.
Attack condemned
Squadron Leader Peter Darling, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in southern Afghanistan, said ISAF forces provided medical assistance to people at the scene.
"We strongly condemn this cowardly attack on the civilian population, who were attacked by insurgents during the course of their daily business," Darling said.
Purpoted Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmad, when asked about civilian casualties, claimed that 10 foreign soldiers and a "large number of police" had been killed in the attack.
A border police official in Spin Boldak said one of the Canadian vehicles sustained heavy damage.
Monday's bombing comes a day after the deadliest bombing in Afghanistan since the Taliban fell in 2001.
More than 100 people are now estimated to have died in the attack outside Kandahar city on Sunday. A crowd in the hundreds had gathered to watch a dog fight, a popular pastime in Afghanistan.
"We have had a very bad weekend in Kandahar," Globe and Mail correspondent Graeme Smith told CTV from Kandahar on Monday, noting that the weekend started with Khalid firing between 100 and 250 police officers in the province's west.
About 30 of Sunday's Kandahar blast victims were police officers, he said.
"Kandahar's hospital is still a madhouse. It's an absolutely full," Smith said. "It's still very much a shaken city here."
Smith also noted that the Taliban has not been claiming responsibility for recent attacks, including the one on Sunday.
"It's possible that they are a little ashamed about associating themselves with something that causes so much civilian carnage," he said.
"In fact, news of suicide bombs has been a subject of debate between the Taliban because some of them say it's counterproductive to be fighting in a way that injures so many of their own people."
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said he doesn't believe the recent bombings indicate an escalation in Taliban activity.
He told reporters in New Delhi, India, that Canadians must remain resilient in the face of such attacks.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
A suicide bombing attack on a Canadian military convoy in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan killed 34 Afghan civilians, and wounded four Canadian soldiers. Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. "A white Toyota Corolla car rammed the second vehicle in the convoy as it passed through the bazaar," said Abdul Hakim, who witnessed the attack. "Then there was a huge explosion. It was dust. I do not know what happened to me."

The Pakistani border was closed because of the elections in Pakistan, but re-opened to take the victims to hospital for treatment. Asadullah Khalid, governor of Kandahar said that many of the wounded are in critical condition, he expects the death toll to rise.

Governor Khalid expressed concern that the Canadian soldiers had not acted on threat warnings from the government regarding operations near the border with Pakistan. "We informed the Canadian forces to avoid patrolling the border areas because our intelligence units had information that suicide attackers were in the areas and wanted to target Canadian or government forces," said Khalid.

The Canadian military dismissed such criticisms and defended recent operations. "We regularly receive threat warnings and obviously we go where we want to, when we want to, in our area of operation," said Lieutenant Commander Pierre Babinsky, Canadian military spokesman. "We obviously take notice of these warnings but our aim is to operate freely within our area of operation despite those."

According to the Canadian military four soldiers were wounded. After treatment three were released from the hospital. All four were able to phone their families themselves.

"We strongly condemn this cowardly attack on the civilian population, who were attacked by insurgents during the course of their daily business," says squadron leader Peter Darling, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in southern Afghanistan.