Kabul Suicide Bomb Kills Two

A suicide bomber struck a convoy of the NATO-led security force in the capital Tuesday, killing a Canadian soldier and an Afghan civilian.

The attack also wounded three Canadian troops and eight civilians, officials said.

The bomber struck the three-vehicle convoy about 8:30 a.m. in western Kabul.

"There was a bump in the road, and when they slowed down to pass over it a terrorist jumped on one of the vehicles and blew himself up," said Ali Jan Askaryar, head of police in the western district of the capital.

The security force confirmed the death of a Canadian soldier, but did not release his name. "It may have been a suicide bomber that caused the explosion," a statement said.

International troops and local police cordoned off the site of the attack, a little over a mile from the main Canadian base in Kabul and close to the ruins of a former royal palace.

An open-backed military jeep - badly burnt with its windows blown out - sat on a patch of blackened road, a white sheet lying next to it. A small Canadian flag hung from its antenna.

Fazel Karim Sayedi, director of the Kabul hospital that treated most of the injured, said the 20-year-old civilian died of severe abdominal injuries.

Two other patients are in serious condition.

Remnants of the hard-line Taliban regime and its al Qaeda allies launch regular attacks against U.S. or international forces, but suicide bombs are not the usual tactic in Afghanistan.

The continuing violence in the country - more than two years after a U.S.-led force ousted the Taliban from power - has killed more than 60 people this month.

Khalil Amin Zada, Kabul's deputy police chief, said investigators are trying to identify the attacker. "It's difficult to tell if he's an Afghan or not," he said.

About 2,000 Canadians serve in the security force, one of the largest contingents of peacekeepers.

In June, a suicide attack on a bus killed four German soldiers and wounded 29 wounded in one of the most serious post-Taliban attacks in the capital.

Another apparent suicide bomber killed four Afghan intelligence agents and their driver on Dec. 28 after they arrested him near Kabul's airport.

A mine explosion killed two Canadian troops in October.

By Amir Shah