Bomb attack kills Canadian diplomat, two Afghans

A Taliban bomb attack on a Canadian military convoy killed a Canadian diplomat and at least two Afghans in the heart of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar yesterday, officials said.

Canadian officials said it appeared the convoy of armoured vehicles was attacked by a suicide bomber, and that three soldiers were wounded.

Afghan doctors and police said two Afghans were killed in the attack.

"The attack occurred as the convoy approached a crowded bus stop on the main road to the camp," Lt General Marc Dumais, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, said at a briefing in Ottawa.

"Some Afghan citizens were also killed and injured in the bombing."

The diplomat, 59-year-old Glyn Berry, was a veteran foreign affairs official who was posted to Afghanistan last August. Lt Gen. Dumais said two of the three Canadian soldiers were in critical condition and that all three were taken to a US military hospital in Kandahar.

The wounded soldiers were identified as Pvt William Salikin, Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey and Master Cpl. Paul Franklin.

"There is no indication the Canadians were specifically targeted and, as you know, coalition forces are regularly the subject of attacks in Afghanistan," Lt Gen. Dumais added.