Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

Apr 5, 2008, 2:12 GMT

Ottawa/Washington - A Canadian soldier fighting with NATO troops in Afghanistan was killed by a bomb Friday, officials and media reports said.

Canada's Defence Minister Peter Gordon MacKay confirmed the death in a statement, but did not give details.

Canadian Television quoted the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier General Guy Laroche, as saying the 24-year-old soldier died after a bomb went off next to the tank he was riding in near Kandahar.

The soldier, Private Terry John Street, was the 82nd Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in 2002.

Southern Afghanistan is a stronghold of the Taliban's radical Islamists, where Canadian, US, British, Danish and Dutch troops are carrying the main brunt of the fighting.

Other European countries have restricted their role in the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan to development and training duties.

At the NATO summit in Bucharest this week, France pledged to send a substantial number of added troops to the more peaceful eastern region, saying the move would free up US troops to move into the war- torn south of the country.

Canada has made its continuing role in the battle zone contingent on reinforcements.