Gunmen attack US-funded Afghan firm, kill guard

KABUL, Apr 23 (Reuters) Taliban guerrillas have attacked a U.S.-funded Afghan construction company, killing an Afghan guard and wounding two others, the director of the company said today.

The attack happened yesterday night in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, where four Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day, he said.

The firm targeted, Tawazo Construction Company, is building a main road linking the southern province of Kandahar with neighbouring Uruzgan province -- a U.S. government-funded project.

''The Taliban opened fire at the company's guards, killing one and wounding two others before setting ablaze 14 vehicles and fleeing,'' company head Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters.

Southern Afghanistan has seen rising violence since the Taliban announced they had launched a spring offensive last month.

Ousted from power by U.S.-backed forces in late 2001, the Taliban have declared a war on President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government, foreign troops in the country, and anyone supporting it, including aid workers.

The United States plans to cut its troop strength from 19,000 to 16,500 this year, while NATO-led peacekeeping troops from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands will be deployed in the south to fight the insurgency.

REUTERS CH BST1319