The Canadian injured in Saturday's suicide car bomb attack outside NATO headquarters in Kabul has been identified as an RCMP officer who had just begun a nine-month mission to the Afghan capital.
According to RCMP officials, Sgt. Brian Kelly, 55, had just left his vehicle and was headed for the building's entrance when the bomb went off.
Kelly, who is based in Ottawa, had surgery to treat shrapnel wounds to his legs and is recovering in hospital.
The explosion, which killed seven people and wounded nearly 100 others, also injured an Afghan civilian employee of the Canadian embassy.
Experts had predicted a spike in violence ahead of Thursday's presidential election. Militants have warned that they will attack polling centres in an attempt to keep Afghan civilians from voting.
Saturday's attack appeared designed to warn both Afghan civilians and the thousands of international troops stationed in the country that insurgents can carry out attacks when and where they please, despite tight security measures.
A number of security checkpoints are scattered throughout Kabul, manned by both Afghan police and soldiers with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
But Saturday's bomb went off just 30 metres from the main entrance to NATO's headquarters, which is only about 150 metres from the American Embassy.
The violence continued on Sunday, when a rocket attack in southern Afghanistan wounded two children.
The rocket slammed into a shop in Kandahar city, where the children were working, according to police spokesperson Mohammad Jan.
While the Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's car bomb, there was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's rocket attack.
Also on Sunday, elections materials were delivered to polling stations in Kabul province. However, election officials said that as many as 10 per cent of the nearly 7,000 polling centres may remain closed, particularly in the violent south and east.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
