At least one person was killed and four others wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police compound Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, the third attack in Kandahar province in three days.

Afghan police officials stand around the damaged road after a car bomb explosion in Kandahar on Tuesday.
(A.R. Khan/Canadian Press)

Jan Mohammad, a police officer at the blast site, told the Associated Press the bomb was triggered remotely about 30 seconds after a police convoy had passed.

On Sunday, more than 100 people were killed in a suicide bombing at an outdoor dog-fighting competition in Kandahar.

The next day, at least 38 civilians were killed in a suicide car bombing that targeted a Canadian convoy in southern Afghanistan. Four Canadian soldiers were slightly wounded in the attack at a busy market in the town of Spin Boldak.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay told reporters Monday he would not describe the latest attacks as an escalation, saying they were probably designed for domestic Canadian consumption, a result, perhaps of the debate about Canada's future in the mission.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion questions that assessment.

"I don't know which evidence he has about that," Dion said Tuesday, adding that, in a democracy, debate is necessary and unavoidable.

A record 6,500 people, mostly militants, were killed in 2007, making it the deadliest year since the fall of the Taliban. Seven years later, the Taliban are still fighting.

"They don't care about civilian casualties," said retired Col. Mike Capstick, a former commander in Afghanistan. "The more civilian casualties there are, the weaker the confidence of the average Afghan gets in his own government's ability to provide security."

Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

A report prepared for the federal government recommends that Canada's military remain in Afghanistan beyond February 2009, as long as NATO or other allies send in more soldiers and Canada secures new equipment by that date.

With files from the Associated Press