Kandahar governor says he warned troops

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The governor of Kandahar blamed Canadian soldiers for a deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan, saying they ignored his warning of a bomber.

Gov. Asadullah Khalid told reporters he forwarded information that a suicide bomber was in the area on the Afghan-Pakistani border to Canadian and NATO officers, Canwest News Service reported.

The bombing in the Spin Boldak area killed at least 30 Afghanis, many of them shoppers or fruit and vegetable sellers at a street market, and wounded four Canadian soldiers. It was aimed at an armored convoy making a routine patrol 65 miles southeast of Kandahar.

Lt. Commander Pierre Babinsky, a spokesman for the Canadian military in Kandahar, said the military must operate freely, especially when warnings are so common.

A bombing killed 100 Afghans just outside Kandahar Sunday, including a top police officer. That bombing occurred at a dogfight.

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