Canada in Afghanistan

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

According to CTV News:

CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Fri. Mar. 3 2006 7:41 AM ET

Five Canadian soldiers were injured -- one seriously -- in a suicide bomb attack Friday near Kandahar, the Canadian military said.

One soldier is in critical but stable condition, and underwent surgery for wounds to his arm. He is expected to be airlifted to the U.S. medical facility at Landstuhl in Germany.

The other four soldiers were slightly hurt in the blast, the military said. They are expected to return to duty shortly.

A man driving a white Corolla in the opposite direction turned his vehicle into the convoy that was carrying the Canadian patrol and detonated his explosives, said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Kandahar.

The blast left a large crater in the road, and was loud enough that it could be heard by soldiers at the provincial reconstruction team base, kilometres away.

Names of the injured have not yet been released, pending notification of kin.

This is the first time that a suicide bomber has targeted a LAV III vehicle.

The seriously injured soldier was outside of a hatch, in the air sentry position out back, where he has machine guns trained on any potential attackers.

"And this is the position that often where we see the injuries occur," said Chao.

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