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Canadians were warned about bomber: Afghan governor
The governor of Kandahar province said a bombing that killed dozens of Afghans and wounded four Canadian soldiers Monday could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings that a suicide bomber was moving about the area. For the second time in two days, suicide bombers attacked security forces inside an area of Canadian military responsibility, killing dozens of civilian Afghans. The latest attack occurred at 2:30 p.m. local time Monday and was directed at a small convoy of Canadian armoured vehicles conducting a routine patrol alongside the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak district, about 100 kilometres southeast of Kandahar city. Driving a civilian vehicle that carried explosives, the assailant approached the Canadian convoy and detonated "in close proximity" to it, said Lt.-Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a Canadian Forces public affairs officer based in Kandahar. "The blast resulted in approximately 30 Afghan civilians being killed and approximately the same number being injured," he added. Other reports put the number of Afghans killed at either 35 or 38. Four Canadian soldiers were wounded. "They are in good condition," said Babinsky. "They all notified their families themselves." The injured Canadians were flown by military helicopter to hospital at Kandahar Air Field; three were soon released from care. One was kept overnight for observation. In a surprise statement, the governor of Kandahar province said the bombing could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings. Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid told reporters he had tried to discourage Canadian officers from sending their troops on patrol in Spin Boldak. Khalid said he knew of a suicide bomber in the border area, and that he had passed his information to Canadian and NATO forces as early as Sunday. He said he repeated his warning to them five times but was ignored. "We regularly receive threat warnings," said Babinsky, when asked about the governor's statements. "And obviously we go where we want to, when we want to, in our area of operation. We obviously take notice of the warnings but our aim is to operate freely within our area of operation, despite threats." Posted by: Fred 2008-02-19 |
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