Pre-teens seem to be the Taliban’s weapon of choice these days.

(SMH) — The suicide bomber behind the first Australian civilian casualty in Afghanistan was a boy of about 12, apparently drafted into a chilling new Taliban campaign to use children as weapons.

The injured man is frontline veteran David Savage, whose role with the Australian Federal Police as a peacekeeper in East Timor inspired a TV mini-series.

Mr Savage, 49, of Canberra, whose condition is serious but stable, was treated at the Australian base at nearby Tarin Kowt before being flown to Kandahar, then Germany.

The bomber attacked as Mr Savage was with a group of soldiers and staff outside a bazaar in the Chora Valley, Uruzgan, where he was working with local communities on development activities.

The head of Afghanistan’s Counter-Criminal Department General Gulab Khan said three NATO soldiers and an Afghan National Army soldier were also injured in the blast.

A Taliban spokesman claimed the attack was payback for the alleged massacre of villagers by a US soldier.