A Canadian soldier was among seven people hurt Sunday in a mortar attack on a military operating base near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

The soldier, who has not been publicly identified, suffered minor injuries when a number of mortar shells pounded the Zhari District Centre, which is frequently used by Canadian troops to launch operations.

It's about 30 kilometres south of Kandahar, where the main coalition troops are based.

The mortar attack also hurt six other people, believed to be Afghan soldiers.

Zhari District Centre has become a target of insurgent attacks. Militants frequently fire mortars, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades from areas surrounding it.

The incident came a day after Canadian soldiers killed an Afghan National Police officer as he travelled in a vehicle that failed to slow down upon approaching a Canadian artillery position.

Elsewhere on Sunday, a British soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in Helmand province, west of Kandahar. The area is known as Afghanistan's main drug-producing region and has long been a Taliban stronghold.

With files from the Canadian Press