Suicide blast kills two NATO soldiers in Afghanistan
Source: Reuters
(Adds confirmation that dead soldiers were Canadian) KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed two Canadian soldiers in an attack on an alliance convoy in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar on Monday. Canadians form the bulk of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the province. Civilians said the bomber ploughed into the convoy in a car. NATO forces sealed off the site of the attack on a road where several government buildings are located, they said. Flames and smoke rose from one of the vehicles and a NATO helicopter hovered overhead, the witnesses said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and military chief Mullah Dadullah said suicide bombers had infiltrated every city and would strike again. "Our squad of would-be suicide bombers has become much bigger after new inductions and they are waiting for their targets to hit," he told Reuters from a secret location. "We have chalked out plans very carefully so that foreign troops could suffer maximum losses in our attacks." In Ottawa, Canadian Department of National Defense spokeswoman Carole Brown confirmed that the two dead soldiers were Canadian, but would not release their names. Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since U.S.-led coalition forces overthrew the Taliban's radical Islamic government in 2001. The violence has seriously hampered development and reconstruction, raised fears the Taliban are gaining support in the countryside, and reinforced perceptions President Hamid Karzai has little control outside Kabul. NATO SUMMIT NATO took over responsibility for security in Afghanistan from the United States this year, and the 32,000 ISAF troops are fighting the toughest ground war in the alliance's 57 years. Its mission will dominate discussions at a two-day summit of the 26-member alliance in Riga, Latvia, from Tuesday but some nations are resisting appeals to bolster the force and differ over limits on what national contingents can do on the ground. NATO said on Monday it had killed an Afghan who ignored warnings to stop -- including flares and warning shots -- as he approached a convoy in Helmand province, also in the south. Monday's incident is the latest in which troops have fired on civilians in the mistaken belief they were under attack. On Saturday, NATO said it would mount signs on its vehicles in the two official languages, Dari and Pashto, warning people to keep away. A similar measure has long been in place in Iraq. But half of Afghan men and 80 percent of women cannot read. ISAF said on Sunday NATO forces had killed about 55 Taliban fighters in two separate engagements the previous day, both in the violent south. Two NATO soldiers died in on of the clashes. A suicide attack on Sunday killed 15 Afghans in a restaurant in southeastern Paktika province, many of them from a militia hired by the U.S. military, according to the provincial governor. The Taliban and their Islamic allies stepped up a suicide attack campaign a year ago as the insurgency gathered fresh momentum, despite U.S. military comments it was on its last legs. So far this year, about 3,800 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, including scores killed in suicide attacks, and in operations by foreign forces across the country. A NATO soldier died after a road accident in eastern Nuristan province on Sunday. The alliance did not give his nationality, but U.S. troops make up the bulk of forces there. (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai, Terry Friel, and Scott Anderson in Toronto)
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