Coalition soldiers killed in Afghan suicide blasts

Two Canadian soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a coalition vehicle in Afghanistan.

Eight others were injured in the attack in Kandahar, officials said. Another bomber, in a simultaneous attack nearby, blew himself up and killed six Afghans.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for both blasts and warned of more as Nato prepares to take control of the volatile southern Afghan region.

Separately, suspected Taliban militants killed three Afghan policeman and one civilian yesterday in the town of Gelan in the western Ghazni province.

The attacks highlighted the continuing challenges confronting the US-led coalition and its Afghan allies as they battle defiant Taliban militants.

The southern regions, in particular, have witnessed some of fiercest fighting since the toppling of the Taliban regime in late 2001, and the militants have stepped up suicide attacks and assaults on Afghan and coalition forces as Nato beefs up its forces in the country to 16,000 from 9,700.

In the first bombing, a suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden car into a coalition vehicle, killing the two Canadians and wounding eight others, US-led coalition forces spokesman Major Scott Lundy said.

The soldiers were among some 2,200 Canadian troops deployed in the southern part of Afghanistan.

In the second attack, which occurred shortly after the first and about 100 feet away, another attacker approached a crowd of people and detonated his vest, killing six bystanders and wounding another 20, said Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar.

Both bombers died in the attacks, he said.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said both suicide bombers were Afghans and threatened more suicide attacks and ambushes against the US-led coalition and Afghan forces.

The attacks came on the heels of strikes by Afghans and the US-led coalition in the southern Helmand province over the past three days that left 19 suspected Taliban fighters dead, said Haji Ghulam Muhiddin, the provincial governor’s spokesman.

He said another 15 Taliban were also wounded yesterday, but managed to flee the area, which is one of the two southern districts briefly captured by militants earlier this week and then reclaimed by coalition and Afghan forces. A search was under way for those who fled.

British Army commanders in Nato’s peacekeeping force in Afghanistan want to withdraw from isolated village outposts that have been the focus of the resurgent and fierce Taliban guerrilla attacks, The Sunday Telegraph reported today.

The report quoted an unidentified Ministry of Defence official as saying it “may be necessary to rebalance British forces.

"Sometimes it is necessary to trade ground for influence. It is a mistake to develop an obsession with holding ground, though the Taliban will try to present this as a reverse for us.”

The report said British commanders hoped that Afghan troops would take over the posts in southern Helmand province, the centre of repeated clashes between Taliban and NATO forces.

More than 800 people, mostly militants, have died nationwide since mid-May, when Taliban militants launched their offensive.

Many of the US force of at least 21,000 troops in Afghanistan are to be incorporated into the Nato force of mainly British, Canadian and Dutch troops. They have worked in tandem as part of an anti-terror campaign that has met with stiff resistance from Taliban fighters.

But the US will also maintain an independent combat force to hunt down Taliban and al-Qaida militants, including Osama bin Laden, who authorities believe is being sheltered somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistani border.