KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An Afghan elder is disputing the Canadian military's claim that a man with an axe who seriously wounded a Canadian soldier Saturday was a Taliban operative, but Haji Mohammed Eisah's assertion only underlines the murky world of political affiliations in southern Afghanistan.

Eisah says the axe-wielding attacker was Abdul Karim, a 16-year-old who was upset by the U.S.-led coalition's heavy-handed tactics and insensitivity to tribal traditions. Eisah said the boy had no Taliban connections.

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, head of the Canadian contingent of 2,200 troops in Afghanistan, said in no uncertain terms Sunday that the attacker was an operative of the Taliban.

A source at Canadian headquarters, speaking on condition of anonymity, said senior military leaders "have a healthy skepticism of Mr. Eisah's version of Karim's affiliations.''

The source said the military cannot disclose the evidence leading to the conclusion that the attacker worked for the Taliban, the ultraconservative militant group that allegedly harboured Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization when it was in power in Afghanistan.

The Taliban regime was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2002 after al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Remnants of the Taliban are still active in Afghanistan, attacking coalition forces and intimidating local populations.

Eisah said Karim was the son of a poor shoe repairman in Kondalan Schinkai. Senior military sources confirmed the identity of the attacker on Monday, but said Karim's exact age is impossible to establish.

The town was the scene of the attack Saturday where Karim struck Capt. Trevor Greene of Vancouver in the head with an axe. Karim was shot dead by three Canadian soldiers moments after he struck Greene.

"I can expect someone shooting at me,'' Sgt. Rob Dolson, who was with Greene, told CTV News. "I can expect someone throwing a grenade at me, as weird as that sounds ... I'm ready for that.

"But someone taking an axe and attacking someone like that . . . that replays in our head."

While the soldiers had been trained to engage the enemy at close range, the attack on their colleague was still a shock.

"Things slow down, events like that everything seems to be in slow motion but yet fast at the same time," Pte. Matt McFadden, one of several soldiers who fired at the attacker, told CTV.

Eisah says the boy was one of many local people who are angry at coalition and Afghan army tactics, such as operations where they search and occupy the homes of villagers.

"They come to our village and search our homes and our women,'' Eisah in an interview by satellite telephone. "This guy was very angry about these kinds of operations.''

Meanwhile, Greene's condition improved somewhat after surgery Monday at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

"His condition somewhat destabilized this morning,'' Maj. Nick Withers, a Canadian medical officer at the hospital, told CBC-TV News.

Withers said Greene's surgery "went extremely well'' and that he was in intensive care in a medically induced coma.

"His condition has stabilized but he remains in critical condition, but we're much happier than we were eight hours ago,'' Withers told CBC.

Events on Saturday indicated a degree of co-ordination beyond the act of a single teenager or an angry mob. Moments after the attack, insurgents shot at Canadian and Afghan troops, and someone tossed a hand grenade.

Eisah denied that anyone in the village knew the attack was coming. Canadian soldiers on the scene say children were quietly rounded up and moved away moments before the ambush.

Eisah was part of a delegation of conservative rural tribal elders from the heart of Taliban country who travelled to Kandahar city a couple weeks ago to complain about house-to-house searches.

The elders said coalition troops break down doors and search randomly after attacks, sending women out of the house and outraging community members.

Afghan troops often follow up by occupying houses and stealing their meat, the elders complained.

"Coalition forces come and search the homes, Afghan forces stay the night and we have to take our women to another home,'' Eisah said.

Within hours of the attack, Eisah contacted Afghans who work for international media organizations by satellite phone to dispute claims that Karim had a Taliban connection.

Canadian officials could not confirm Eisah's claim that three local Afghans, including two children, were injured in the firefight that followed the axe attack.