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Suicide Bomb Kills 38 Civilians in Afghanistan; Wounds 4 Canadian Soldiers

Posted on: Monday, 18 February 2008, 15:00 CST

By Stephanie Levitz, THE CANADIAN PRESS

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Canadian military bristled at a suggestion Monday that more than three dozen Afghan deaths and injuries to four Canadians could have been avoided if it had taken the advice of the Afghan government.

Canadian troops were on a routine patrol along the Afghan-Pakistan border Monday afternoon when a car full of explosives detonated near their convoy. The suicide attack killed 38 Afghans, wounded more than two dozen civilians and lightly injured four Canadian soldiers at Spin Boldak, about 75 kilometres south of Kandahar city.

"We told NATO six times not to come in these areas because for the last two days a suicide bomber has been circulating," said Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar province.

"But they continue patrolling the area. We repeatedly told them not to come out until we arrest the suicide bomber."

But a military spokesman said the Canadian Forces make the decisions on where its soldiers will 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."

Canadian troops operate in Kandahar province as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF.

Three of the four Canadian soldiers wounded in the blast have been released from hospital; the fourth was expected to remain overnight for observation, Babinsky said.

One military vehicle was damaged during the explosion.

"We have to say that targeting ISAF forces in a populated area where men, women and children were killed and wounded demonstrated insurgents' total disregard for human life," said Babinsky.

"Out thoughts and condolences go to the people of Spin Boldak in this tragic time."

Monday's blast followed the worst bombing Afghanistan has ever seen.

More than 100 people were killed on Sunday when another suicide bomber blew himself up at a dogfighting match outside Kandahar city.

The Taliban, which denied it carried out Sunday's attack, immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's marketplace bombing in Spin Boldak, which is only some 100 metre from the border with Pakistan.

Babinsky said it was too early for the military to declare a change of tactics on the part of the Taliban, but a professor at Kabul University said the complete disregard for civilian lives marked a switch.

"The attacks show that the enemies of Afghanistan are changing their tactics. Now they are not thinking about civilians at all," said Nasrullah Stanikzai, a professor of political science at Kabul University.

"They wanted to cause such big casualties in these attacks to weaken the morale of the government and the international community, to show the world the Afghan government is too weak to prevent them," he said.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay would not describe the latest violence in Afghanistan as an escalation. "I would describe it as another example of, sadly, how determined the Taliban insurgents continue to be," MacKay said while visiting New Delhi.

"We have to be persistent in our efforts to succeed in turning back these insidious and despicable tactics used by the Taliban, and not be thwarted in our dermination to work with the allies and to see that Afghanistan is going to become a peaceful, stable place."

In an interview with The Canadian Press after Sunday's bombing, Khalid said he knew his government wasn't doing all it could to protect civillians. But he said it was in part because of a lack of troops in the province to provide the security needed for the government to grow.

"If we go to follow the enemy to the village, we will clean this village and we will not have the casualties that we have already," he said.

After Monday's bombing, though, Khalid said Afghans were growing frustrated that coalition forces were not listening to their advice.

"We are requesting, telling to ISAF many times: 'Let's go to this village, or this mountain or this corner, have a post here because this is a transit way for Taliban'," he said.

"Nobody is listening to this, and still our police is not strong enough to send them."

Spin Boldak is one of four districts among 17 in Kandahar province where Canadians maintain a steady and strong, presence.

Soldiers there train the Afghan National Army and police, as well as work with border officials. The military recently held a medical outreach clinic in the area, which attracted hundreds of local residents.

Afghanistan saw a record level of violence last year, and analysts and military leaders here have predicted that 2008 could turn even deadlier.

The Afghan-Pakistan border was closed Monday because of elections in Pakistan, but several of the Afghan wounded were taken across the border to a Pakistani hospital in Chaman.

One of them, Abdul Hakim, lay in a hospital bed, his clothes caked with dust and splattered with blood.

"A white Toyota Corolla car rammed the second vehicle in the (military) convoy as it passed through the bazaar," said 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."

- With files from The Associated Press.

Source: Canadian Press

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