Car bomb wounds 5 NATO soldiers in southern Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) _ A car bomb exploded near a NATO convoy in a volatile area of southern Afghanistan, wounding five soldiers, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force

Saturday, January 20th 2007, 6:33 am

By: News On 6

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) _ A car bomb exploded near a NATO convoy in a volatile area of southern Afghanistan, wounding five soldiers, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Saturday.

Squadron Leader David Marsh said the Taliban rebels also opened fire on their convoy in the Uruzgan province shortly after Friday's bomb attack.

He did not give the names or nationalities of the wounded soldiers, and only said they were being treated at a NATO-run hospital in Kandahar.

The soldiers from ISAF were on a routine patrol when the attack happened, he said, adding that they then called for air assistance. ISAF helicopter gunships bombed the enemy position, Marsh said.

However, Marsh said ISAF was still checking if the rebels had sustained any damage.

On Saturday, another alliance convoy was targeted with a roadside bomb in Zhari district in Kandahar province, Marsh said. One ISAF vehicle was damaged but no troops were injured in that blast, he said.

Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar province, meanwhile, said that Afghan authorities have detained two men suspected of planning suicide attacks on Afghan and foreign troops in southern Afghanistan.

The two were from Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, he said.