The suicide bomber responsible for the first Australian civilian casualty in Afghanistan was a boy of about 12, apparently part of a chilling new Taliban campaign to use children as weapons.The injured man is David Savage, whose role with the Australian Federal Police as a peacekeeper in East Timor inspired a TV mini-series. Savage, whose condition is serious but stable, was treated at the Australian base at Tarin Kowt before being flown to Kandahar, and then Germany.
The bomber attacked as Savage was with a group of soldiers and staff outside a bazaar in the Chora Valley, Uruzgan, where he was helping local communities with development activities.
Three NATO troops and an Afghan National Army soldier were also wounded in the blast, which the Taliban claimed was payback for the alleged massacre of villagers by a US soldier.
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Deputy Commander Colonel Ben James said members of the US patrol accompanying Savage saw the boy run towards them before a bomb he was carrying went off. He said, "It appears that the patrol was approached by an Afghan civilian estimated to be about 12 years old. The boy came into the middle of the patrol and detonated the device."
The child was wearing loose robes and a head covering and it is probable he was wearing a vest laden with explosives.
Savage and three US soldiers were injured in the blast, which occurred as they walked back to a joint Australian and US patrol base in the Chora Valley in eastern Uruzgan. The patrol had been at a shura - a traditional Afghan meeting - at a government building in Chora town as part of their work as a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).
On Tuesday there were reports that two boys aged between 12 and 16 had been arrested in the Mirabad Valley region of western Uruzgan. The local police chief said they had been sent from Pakistan with orders to kill him in a suicide attack.
While this is not a new tactic for the Taliban, the Chora Valley attack raises concern because there may be more children being groomed by Taliban commanders in Pakistan for suicidal missions.