A suicide bomber in a car attacked a Canadian armored vehicle outside the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing himself and wounding a Canadian soldier, an Afghan soldier said.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw the wrecked car used for the attack. The Canadian vehicle had punctured tires and some damage to its body.
Jumat Gul, an Afghan army soldier at the scene, said the attacker was in a Toyota Corolla when he hit the Canadian armored vehicle and blew himself up, wounding one Canadian soldier.
Canadian military officials were not immediately available for comment.
Qari Mohammed Yousaf, who claims to speak for the Taliban militia, said the group was behind the attack. In a telephone call to The Associated Press, he said the bomber was an Afghan from Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold.
Purported spokesmen contact media claiming attacks for the Taliban, but their exact ties to its leadership are unclear and the information is sometimes unreliable.
The attack is the latest in a wave of suicide attacks in Afghanistan, and comes days after Canada formally took over the command of the main foreign military base in southern Afghanistan in Kandahar from U.S. forces.
The Canadian deployment of 2,200 troops to the volatile region is part of an expansion of the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan, which will pave the way for the U.S. to draw down some troops.
