KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada will help rebuild an Afghan government building destroyed during a brazen Taliban suicide attack in Kandahar on Wednesday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is in the process of evaluating the terms of its participation in the effort to repair the provincial council office building, The Canadian Press has learned.
The building, which housed the provincial council of Kandahar, was attacked by Taliban insurgents who killed at least 13 people.
Another 17 people were injured.
A Canadian government spokesman said it's impossible to know for sure how much it will cost to rebuild the office or exactly how much Canada will contribute.
With more than 2,500 troops, most of them in Kandahar province, Canada has a heavy military and civilian presence in the region.
On Wednesday, just before noon, a car laden with explosives was detonated at the gates of the office by one of the insurgents.
After the car bomb explosion, three militants dressed in Afghan National Army uniforms and wearing suicide vests and carrying AK-47 assault rifles entered the compound.
An Afghan government spokesperson said two of three insurgents were shot dead by security forces while the third detonated a suicide bomb.
The target appears to have been Ahmad Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and head of the provincial council.
Ahmad Wali Karzai was not inside the building during the attack, having left moments before. The attack was to have taken place during a scheduled meeting of tribal leaders.
Among seven civilians killed were the province's education director Muhammad Anwar and his deputy health director.
Six Afghan police officers were also killed in what has been described as a sophisticated attack by militants mirroring al Qaeda-style tactics.
A former Taliban fighter told The Canadian Press last month that insurgents disguising themselves in police uniforms and even burkas is not new.
But he said that the scale, sophistication and effort put into it over the last few months has grown.
Canadian soldiers set up a security perimeter around the building after the attack on Wednesday.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack and it's now up to Afghan intelligence to track down those responsible.
