The Canadian military is blaming the Taliban for an explosion last week which killed three Afghan children and stoked anti-Canadian fury among war-weary locals.
The bomb blast, which also injured a fourth child, was caused by munitions planted by the Taliban and not by explosives belonging to Canada, said Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance Monday.
Vance, the new commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said analysis of shrapnel suggests the bomb was old and may have been leftover from the Soviet occupation of the 1980s.
The Taliban have been known to refashion old Soviet bombs into newer, deadlier IEDs.
"The burden of proof and experience in this part of the province places the likelihood of harming people with explosives squarely on the shoulders of the insurgency, not on the shoulders of Canadians," Vance said Monday.
After the Feb. 23 incident, which occurred in the village of Salehan about 15 kilometres west of Kandahar city, the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service and the Afghan National Police launched an investigation.
"Detailed tests were done. A site survey was done and eyewitness statements were taken," said Vance, adding that the children likely found the device in a field as they walked home from school.
Investigators believe the children brought the explosive back to their village, where it later detonated.
The incident sparked outrage among villagers, who said the blast was caused by an unexploded shell left behind by Canadian troops conducting target practice in the area. Other villagers accused the Canadians of firing rockets.
Villagers held a protest not long after the incident. They collected the bodies of the first two children killed, loaded them into a motorcycle sidecar and took them into downtown Kandahar to show the remains to reporters. The third child died later in hospital.
At the time, the Canadian military confirmed that its troops were carrying out artillery testing in the region. However, it said there are strict protocols for ensuring no explosives are left behind after such operations.
Vance said that the military will close the artillery range near Salehan out of respect for the victims' parents.
"We'll find another place to do our range work," he said.
Residents of Salehan are growing weary of ongoing armed conflict in the region. The village has a separate community for locals who have been maimed or handicapped, and many villagers have grown tired of the endless of incoming artillery rounds and the sound of small-arms fire.
The constant din is largely from Canadian troops conducting training and show-of-force exercises outside the village.
These operations often leave behind scrap metal, and collecting it for recycling can be a lucrative, though dangerous, endeavour for locals. The country is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world and is strewn with unexploded ordnance after decades of war.
In 2008, more than 82,000 anti-personnel mines and 900 anti-tank mines were cleared in Afghanistan, many of which were left behind in the 1980s, when the Soviets occupied the country, the United Nations says.
The international community has set 2013 as the date for the country to be mine-free, however the UN says the effort requires more funding.
With files from The Canadian Press
