KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Afghan insurgents twice attempted to blow up Canadian Forces convoys without any success, the military announced Wednesday.

In one case, a Canadian armoured vehicle was unscathed and a suicide attacker wound up dead. In the other, a vehicle was retrieved from a crater after a bomb detonated and it also drove off without significant damage.

The suicide strike occurred Wednesday as Canadians were patrolling near the border town of Spin Boldak, next to Pakistan.

An explosives-packed car blew up near the Canadian convoy and while it did no damage to the military vehicles, it injured three Afghan nationals in the vicinity and they were taken to hospital.

Also Wednesday, a Canadian media crew returned from an operation in rural Kandahar and said they saw an explosion send an armoured vehicle slumping into a bombed-out crater.

The CBC crew said they witnessed the attack earlier this week as they entered Panjwaii district during an operation to clear insurgents out of a safehouse being using as a bomb factory.

The explosion sent a spike of black smoke gushing into the air, encircled by a mini-cyclone of brown dust.

But the Nyala armoured vehicle drove off unscathed after being extracted from a hole by a crane.

The Canadian military reported no injuries Wednesday from the incident, which occurred at the outset of a mission by Canadian, British and Afghan troops.

The coalition attacked a bomb-making facility thought to be housing up to 20 insurgents and they discovered explosives equipment, medical supplies, and illegal narcotics on the site.

A British military spokesman said one insurgent's body was found near the scene and said he believed several others had also been killed during the offensive.

British Maj. Matthew Cansdale said the operation in Salavat village served two purposes: to disrupt the insurgency, and also to make the locals feel more secure.

"There are a number of areas of this country where people are still being intimidated by the insurgents," Cansdale said.

"We've seen that people are threatened by the insurgents and feel forced to comply with them.

"The fact that we can go and engage them and strike them in these areas shows that (insurgents) don't have freedom of movement."

The announcement of several possible insurgents killed and one busted safehouse came after a large coalition operation that had been days in the making.

Canadians manned positions in a field on one side of the targeted building to capture any insurgents seeking to escape their way.

British paratroopers swooped into the area as helicopters, infantry and more than a dozen vehicles pounded the target with gunfire.

Canadians spent 11 hours in that field on Canada Day, waiting in 40 C heat for Taliban fighters who never came their way.

They did see shepherds, goats, and several camels wandering by. As he approached, one villager frantically raised his shirt to show the Canadians he was not a suicide-bomber.

Cansdale said some insurgents tried to fight with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but that many managed to flee.

"Given the way that we engaged them, and the amount of force and the success that we had, it's hardly surprising that the others chose not to come and tangle with us," he said.

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