Taliban insurgents have targeted a high-profile Canadian project in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar with a suicide bomb attack and ambush.

A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle at an Afghan National Army outpost outside the village of Deh-e-Bagh, south of the city of Kandahar, on Monday night, and a firefight ensued with armed insurgents.

Canadian soldiers mentoring the Afghan soldiers were on site, but none were injured. A Canadian military official says they did not engage in the Afghan army's firefight with the attackers.

Maj. Mario Couture says one Afghan soldier was killed and seven others injured, but the Canadian-trained Afghans repelled the attack, which never reached the village.

The village was unveiled just last month, in a project Canadian military officials hope will show how reconstruction and the prospect of employment can convince Afghans to turn away from the insurgents.

Couture says the attack on the village comes as no surprise to the Canadian and Afghan military because of its high profile.