A young boy, possibly only 10 years old, was the suicide bomber who killed an Afghan soldier and wounded two Canadian soldiers Friday, 愛污传媒 has learned.
Making the matter even more disturbing is the possibility that the bomb was detonated from afar by remote control.
"He (was) believed to have been wearing a suicide vest,'' Capt. Amber Bineau, a spokeswoman for the Canadian army battle group in Kandahar, said of the boy.
"We do know that the soldiers saw the kid approaching," CTV's Paul Workman reported Friday from Kandahar.
"There's some suggestion that he had his arms in the air and that's why they suspect that it may have been detonated by somebody else."
Workman said the bomb could have also been on a timer.
"This is a very, very unusual attack, the Canadians really don't know what to expect," said Workman.
The incident occurred while the soldiers were conducting a foot patrol in a village in Zhari district, just west of Kandahar City, around 10 a.m. local time.
A second Afghan soldier was also injured in the attack.
Bineau condemned the attack and described it as a "last ditch-attempt'' by militants to disrupt the progress of Afghan and NATO forces in establishing security in the country.
"These types of attacks demonstrate a weakness in the insurgency and do not impede the resolve of those who work to make Kandahar province a safe and stable environment,'' Bineau said in a statement.
"The Taliban seem to be trying new tactics," Workman said.
Workman said he was told that all of the right procedures were followed by the soldiers.
The injured soldiers were all brought back to Kandahar Airfield for treatment. Bineau said the soldiers were able to "walk into the medical facility on their own.''
The military does not usually release the names of injured Canadians.
Foot patrols
Canadians seem to be going back to foot patrols as a means of demonstrating they are on the ground and in the community.
But they are typically acting in a support role to the Afghan National Army soldiers, who are taking more of a leadership role in southern Afghanistan, Workman said.
With Friday's attack, and other violence in eastern and southern Afghanistan that left eight militants dead, there are fears the spring offensive could be reaching its peak.
On May 6, Cpl. Michael Starker, a Calgary paramedic, was shot and killed while on foot patrol in the Pashmul region, outside Kandahar City.
Another Canadian was injured in the incident but is expected to recover.
With files from The Canadian Press
