Grenade attack injures Canadian soldier in Afghanistan
Last Updated Sat, 25 Feb 2006 18:41:55 EST
CBC News



INDEPTH: Afghanistan

The troops were on a routine convoy travelling between Canada's main base at Kandahar airfield and a smaller base nearby, CBC News reporter Patrick Brown said in a telephone interview from the Afghan city.

Brown said attackers shot two rocket-propelled grenades at the convoy at about 10:30 p.m. local time. One missed but the other struck a lightly armoured Mercedes-Benz Gelaendewagen (known as a "G Wagon").

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Unlike some previous attacks in Afghanistan, none of the Canadian troops suffered serious injuries and only one needed treatment by medical personnel.

"The soldier who was slightly injured walked into the clinic here and walked out again," said Brown.

He said troops did not return fire because they couldn't see the attackers and didn't want to risk hitting bystanders in the area, which had some houses.

"They just sped on and came straight back to the base."

In one of the most recent attacks on Canadians, a Canadian diplomat was killed and three soldiers were seriously injured by a suicide bomber in Kandahar on Jan. 15.

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Three troops were injured on Dec. 12, 2005, when a bomb detonated under their G Wagon near Kandahar. Two of them suffered broken bones.

Over the past month, Canada has greatly boosted its troop deployment in Afghanistan. It currently has about 2,200 troops in Kandahar.