"I was knocked unconscious," said Muhammed, speaking through an interpreter with Global National in Kandahar City. "When I woke up, the Canadians came and gave us some treatment. After that, I collected some of the pieces of the children. My wife was crying, she was in a very bad way."

Fearing a suicide attack, a gunner opened fire with the powerful cannon that can slice through steel. The single 25-millimetre bullet ripped through the car and instantly killed Muhammed's children: five-year-old daughter, Mulkia, and two-year-old son, Thorjan. Shrapnel from the large-calibre projectile also wounded Muhammed.

Afghan officials are also scrambling to defuse what could become a volatile flashpoint in public anger against the coalition forces. President Hamid Karzai phoned Muhammed's uncle and the governor of Kandahar province has invited Muhammed to a meeting this weekend.