Blast hits Canadian convoy in Afghan south

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Mar 3 (Reuters) An explosion hit a convoy of Canadian troops in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar today, Afghan police and an army officer said.

An Afghan army officer at the scene, who did not want to be identified, said the blast had been caused by a suicide car bomb, but a district police officer said it was a mine that had damaged a Canadian armoured vehicle but caused no casualties.

The blast occurred in Daman district, about 15 km south of the city of Kandahar and about 10 km from the airport, where Canadian troops are based, said district police chief Akhtar Mohammad.

A spokesman for the U S-led foreign force in Afghanistan said he was checking the report but had no details.

Canada has 2,300 troops based in Kandahar, an area troubled by Taliban insurgents. The troops have come under attack several times in recent months.

The blast came a day after a Canadian soldier was killed and seven injured, two of them critically, when their vehicle overturned on a road leading west from Kandahar. Police said it was an accident.

REUTERS PR DS1319