KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Attacks on two military convoys Wednesday in southern Afghanistan left one dead and 13 wounded – including six Canadian soldiers – and the U.S.-led coalition warned that “significant fighting” lies ahead.

A suicide attacker detonated his explosives-filled car near a military convoy in the city of Kandahar, killing one and wounding nine, Afghan and coalition officials said.

The troops were on their way back from a patrol in a light-armored vehicle when they were hit by the attacker’s car around 7:30 p.m., said coalition spokesman Maj. Quentin Innis.

Two Canadian soldiers were injured and the attacker was killed, he said.

In addition, an Afghan bystander was killed and seven others injured, including one policeman and six civilians who were taken to Mir Wais Hospital, said Dr. Aziz Khan.

An Associated Press reporter saw the burning shell of the attacker’s vehicle on the main road through Kandahar, blackened pieces scattered over the highway.

Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb hit a Canadian convoy in the Shahwali Kot district of Kandahar province, leaving four troops wounded, Innis said.

Two Afghan men seen running from a spot near the bombing were chased down and detained, Innis said.

One of the soldiers was seriously wounded in that blast, he said. The other three were in stable condition.

The attacks came as the coalition warned that major battles will come as Taliban fighters resist the coalition push to sweep the southern region clear ahead of a security handover to NATO-led International Security Assistance Force later this summer, military officials said.

“We are seeing the enemy operating in larger groups. They are fighting hard. They are clearly trying to stop our efforts to move into certain areas,” coalition spokesman Col. Tom Collins said at a news conference in Kabul.

“People should expect significant fighting in certain areas of the south over the coming months,” he said.

A day earlier, raids and heavy fighting in southern Helmand and Uruzgan provinces left 30 insurgents dead, Afghan and coalition forces said.

Operation Mountain Thrust began in earnest last week with more than 10,000 Afghan, British, Canadian and American troops deploying throughout four southern provinces to crush a resurgent Taliban force in the largest military operation since the former regime’s 2001 ouster.

Heavy fighting occurred Tuesday as U.S.-led soldiers and Afghan troops killed 20 insurgents near Musa Qala, a remote town in the mountainous Helmand province, Afghan army commander Gen. Rahmatullah Roufi said. One Afghan soldier was wounded.

Coalition forces had trapped insurgents gathered for a meeting, Roufi said. Military officials recovered all 20 Taliban bodies, along with 22 AK-47s, seven rocket-propelled grenades and three heavy machine guns.

In a separate incident in the same area, coalition and Afghan troops fought more than 30 militants, who escaped to a nearby village for cover, a military statement said. One U.S. soldier and one Afghan soldier were wounded.

In neighboring Uruzgan, coalition troops chased militants seeking cover in a compound in the Char Chine Valley of Shahidi Hassas district, killing another 10 insurgents, the coalition said.

Collins promised there will be “a lot of fighting … a lot of activity” through the summer as Taliban forces resist the coalition push into areas where the government has had little control in the past.

“By the end of the activity, you will have significantly more troops down there as NATO progresses into the area,” he said. “The Taliban will ultimately lose in that area.”

More than 600 people, mostly militants, have been killed in the past month as insurgents have launched their deadliest campaign of violence in years. At least 10 coalition soldiers have been killed since mid-May.

Separately, coalition soldiers accidentally fired on an unmarked police car Tuesday at a checkpoint in eastern Kunar province, killing three policemen and wounding three others, Collins said.

The incident began when the car approached the checkpoint without slowing. Coalition soldiers noticed the occupants, who were not in uniform, were armed with RPGs and “felt they were in immediate danger so they opened fire on the vehicle,” Collins said. He said the coalition “regrets the incident.”

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