The Taliban is taking responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed a Canadian soldier and wounded three others outside Kabul, Afghanistan.

Cpl. Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld., was killed Tuesday while on a routine patrol through the outskirts of Kabul in an Iltis vehicle.

When the two jeeps in the convoy slowed down for a bump in the road near a bombed-out former palace, the attacker jumped onto one of the vehicles and detonated explosives that were apparently strapped to his chest. Murphy died instantly.

"They were just outside the main gate of Camp Julien on a road that is used by all members of the International Security Assistance Force," Gen. Ray Henault, Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces, told reporters Tuesday.

Three Canadian soldiers were wounded. They are: Lt. Jason Matthew Feyko, 30 of Peterborough, Ont.; Cpl. Jeremy Gerald MacDonald, 30, of Burnt Island, Nfld. Cpl. Richard Michael Newman, 23, of Hartland, N.B.

All were members of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Petawawa, Ontario.

None of the three wounded suffered life-threatening injuries. One walked into hospital at Camp Julien on his own, military officials said. Another was flown to German medical facilities at the Kabul International Airport where he had surgery for an eye injury. The third soldier had superficial wounds.

"They're under the best of care right now and it looks like they're going to be OK," said Maj. Jay Janzen, public affairs officer for the regiment.

A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility. "This attack was carried out by us," Hamid Agha told Reuters.

Another Taliban official, Abdul Latif Hakimi, said there were several hundred Taliban supporters waiting to carry out similar attacks against foreign "infidels."

The military says as many as nine Afghan civilians walking nearby were hurt in the blast. One later died in hospital.

Defence Minister David Pratt joined Henault to offer condolences to the families of the victims. Pratt said the death is a stark reminder of the sacrifices Canadian Forces members make.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack and an investigation is underway.

Trail of terror

Afghan President Hamid Karzai blames the attack on what he calls "terrorist elements" intent on disrupting the peace and security of people in Afghanistan.

Suicide bombings are rare in Afghanistan. In June, four German soldiers were killed and 29 wounded in a suicide attack on their bus in one of the most serious post-Taliban attacks in the capital.

Two Canadian soldiers were killed and three injured in a mine explosion in October. The soldiers were also travelling in an Iltis jeep. An investigation was not able to prove that terrorists were behind the strike, the commander of the NATO-led force in Kabul said earlier this month.

After the October incident, the military ordered heavier replacement vehicles and restricted the use of the open-topped Iltis. The new rules say the Iltis is only to be used on hard surfaced roads, in built-up areas, such as patroling the narrow streets of Kabul.

In the countryside, the Iltis has been replaced by a much heavier armoured vehicle.

Henault said he didn't believe that if the soldiers had been riding in a more-heavily armoured vehicle, they would not have been targeted. "There is, quite sincerely, no protection against a determined suicide bomber," Henault told reporters.

"There is almost nothing you can do when that suicide bomber is prepared to take his or her life and to take one of your own soldiers lives as well."

At their main base in Kabul, some soldiers are now speculating that the attack was retaliation for a night-time raid the Canadians carried out early last week, in which several suspected terrorists and alleged drug lords were apprehended.

The soldiers said the raid represented a change of tactics -- going from street patrolling to direct action and today's attack may have been revenge.

Henault, however, cautioned against leaping to conclusions.

"Obviously they were targetting ISAF troops in this case, but to extend that to say they were targetting Canadians is unknown to us at this time," he told reporters.

Canadians account for about 40 per cent of the 5,200-strong ISAF force in Afghanistan, which has soldiers from 34 countries. Members of the Royal Canadian Regiment Battalion Group started returning to Canada last week after finishing their tour, with the arrival of fresh troops from Valcartier, Que.

Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, who met Cpl. Murphy on her recent trip to Kabul, said the soldiers' impending return has really made the attack strike home.

"He was about to come home from his tour. The people that we saw over New Year's all were getting set to come home within the next four to six weeks -- so that makes it doubly sad," the commander-in-chief said.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Paul Martin sent the victims' families his condolences.

Such attacks are a painful reminder that defending "our values and doing our duty" in the war on terror comes at a very high price.