A suicide bomber killed two Canadian soldiers in an attack on an alliance convoy in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar on Monday. Canadians form the bulk of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the province.
Civilians said the bomber ploughed into the convoy in a car. Nato forces sealed off the site of the attack on a road where several government buildings are located, they said. Flames and smoke rose from one of the vehicles and a Nato helicopter hovered overhead, the witnesses said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and military chief Mullah Dadullah said suicide bombers had infiltrated every city and would strike again.
"Our squad of would-be suicide bombers has become much bigger after new inductions and they are waiting for their targets to hit," he told Reuters from a secret location.
In Ottawa, Canadian Department of National Defence spokeswoman Carole Brown confirmed that the two dead soldiers were Canadian, but would not release their names.