A Canadian soldier was killed and four others injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their armoured vehicle while on patrol northeast of Kandahar city Sunday.
Trooper Marc Diab from the Royal Canadian Dragoons has been identified as the slain soldier. Diab, 22, was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, based out of Petawawa, Ont.
The injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to a medical facility at the Kandahar airfield and are all in stable condition, the military says. They will be moved shortly to a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
The incident occurred in the Shah Wali Kot district, a mountainous region known as a Taliban transit point, at about 1:15 p.m. Kandahar time.
Reporting from Afghanistan, the Globe and Mail's Gloria Galloway said that while all areas of the country are dangerous, the region the Canadian soldiers were killed in was considered "somewhat resistant" to the Taliban.
"Frankly, economically the people there are a little bit better off," she told Â鶹´«Ã½net Sunday.
Galloway said the area north of the incident is known as a "Taliban bastion" and the soldiers could have been going to or returning from that area.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered his condolences to the family of Diab. In a statement, the prime minister said Diab paid the ultimate price for serving his country.
He said Diab was an example of the "bravery and outstanding dedication" of the Canadian Forces
Harper also wished the injured soldiers a quick recovery.
Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said the young soldier died in "pursuit of a noble goal."
Vance said Diab was an "energetic, enthusiastic and dedicated soldier, who loved to joke around and make people laugh."
"His friends and comrades describe him as having a large heart for such a small guy. He would give you the world if he had it," he said.
Vance said Diab was very family-orientated and was extremely close to his mother and girlfriend.
"He was avid soccer player who loved sports and outdoor activities," Vance added.
On a Facebook memorial page created Sunday, friends and family mourned the loss of Diab. One person said in a post that he was expected back in Canada at the end of this month.
Diab is the 112th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan. A Canadian diplomat and two Canadian aid workers have also been killed over the course of the insurgency.
