Search underway for missing plane
January 27, 2004
A SEARCH began today in waters off far north NSW for a light plane which authorities fear may have crashed.
An Australian search and rescue spokesman said a six-seat Aerostar, carrying two people, left Coolangatta airport earlier today.
The plane was due back at a flying school this afternoon but authorities were called in after it was two hours late.
The plane was travelling over waters between the Gold Coast and Byron Bay in far north NSW.
A search has started with two helicopters scouring water over the scheduled plane's route.
The search will be expanded to include more helicopters and vessels.
By Yousuf Azimy
KABUL (Reuters) - A Canadian soldier with the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan was killed and three countrymen wounded when a suicide bomber threw himself in front of their car in Kabul Tuesday.
Police said at least nine Afghan civilians were also wounded in the attack near the Canadian base on the southern outskirts of Kabul. They said the bomber died in the blast.
The casualties were the first among the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since two Canadian soldiers were killed in October when their car hit a mine on the outskirts of Kabul.
"One Canadian soldier has been killed and three others wounded," said ISAF spokesman Colonel Joerg Langer. "There has been at least one civilian death. It appears that may have been the suicider himself."
ISAF said the name of the soldier killed was being withheld until his next of kin were informed. It did not give the condition of the wounded troops.
Bystander Ahmad Skekib said he saw the attacker throw himself in front of the jeep as it was negotiating a speed bump.
"There was a big explosion, then flames and smoke. Then I saw five people lying in the car and on the road."
Peacekeepers and police cordoned off the scene, but part of the bomber's body could be seen lying on the road. In the distance stood a badly burned Canadian military jeep with its windows blown out standing on a patch of blackened road.
A burned-out civilian vehicle stood nearby.
Kabul's deputy police chief Khalil Aminzada said the Afghans hurt were pedestrians. Canada has about 2,000 soldiers in the 5,700-strong multinational force, making it the largest contingent.
Tuesday's was the second suicide attack on foreign peacekeepers in Kabul since their deployment after the overthrow of the radical Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
Last June, four German peacekeepers were killed and 31 wounded in a suicide car bombing in Kabul.
In the most recent suicide attack in the city, five Afghan security officials were killed when a man they had detained blew himself up near the city's airport.
Officials have blamed previous attacks on Taliban guerrillas and Islamic militant allies including the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden. (With reporting by Sayed Salahuddin)