KANDAHAR - Ten Afghan civilians were recovering in hospital Wednesday after a suicide car bomber targeted a Canadian military convoy west of Kandahar city.
The bomb caused minor damage to a Canadian Forces tanker truck, but no soldiers were hurt, officials said.
"It was a suicide, vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device,'' said Canadian military spokesman Lt. John Nethercott.
The remaining vehicles in the convoy pushed through the area in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, and troops were unaware any injuries had resulted, Nethercott added.
While no military personnel were injured, 10 civilians were admitted to hospital, most of them suffering from burns.
"We have got 10 wounded civilians in our hospital,'' said Abdul Qayoom Pakhula, director of Mirwise Hospital.
One of them, Sardar Mohammad, 32, was on his way to his job working in the poppy fields in Lashkargah district, about 100 kilometres west of Kandahar, when the attack took place.
The tanker truck was passing in front of a group of civilian vehicles, including Mohammad's, when it was struck, he said.
"At once I heard a big explosion, and after that fire was lighted all around us,'' said Mohammad, who awoke to find himself in hospital.
"Our vehicle was full of fire; everybody was burning inside.''
Taj Mohammad, 25, tried to escape the flames by running to a nearby village.
"When I reached the village there was a stream and I jumped in,'' he said. "The fire was extinguished, but that was very painful for me.''
The latest attack comes just days after six Canadian soldiers were killed Sunday when their LAV-3, a light armoured vehicle, struck a large roadside bomb on a forlorn stretch of rocky desert west of Kandahar city.
The devastating explosion caused the highest death toll in a single day since Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan in 2002. Sunday's explosion brought the Canadian death toll to 51 soldiers and one diplomat.
The bodies of Sgt. Don Lucas, Master Cpl. Chris Stannix, Cpls Aaron Williams and Brent Poland, and Ptes David Greenslade and Kevin Kennedy were schedule to arrive at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario early Wednesday evening.
One of four other soldiers wounded in the attack, Cpl. Shaun Fevens, 24, is recuperating at the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
His injuries included a broken ankle, a broken leg and shrapnel in his wrist. Doctors have said he was recovering well enough that he may be able to leave for Canada by the weekend.
The other Canadians suffered relatively minor injuries.
