On a day when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion was in Kandahar insisting Canadian troops had done their share of fighting, four soldiers were injured by a roadside bomb.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon, when the soldiers struck an improvised explosive device while driving along a dirt road in Kandahar province's dangerous Panjwaii district.
They were working to clear mines from an area near the town of Zangabad, 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City, when the blast occurred.
All four men were taken by helicopter to the Kandahar Airfield hospital and have been listed in good condition. Two were quickly released, while the others are expected to be released Monday morning.
On Sunday, Dion maintained that the Canadian military should end its combat mission, and insisted that the government warn Afghanistan and NATO allies of that intention.
Canada "believes in the principle of rotation," and other NATO countries should take a turn on the front lines, Dion said.
"After three years of a combat mission, it's normal that Canada would say, 'We want to do something else,'" he told CTV's Question Period from Kandahar on Sunday.
He told Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Saturday that the Liberal party would prefer to see Canada's combat role in Afghanistan end by February 2009, but stay on in a different capacity.
They would prefer to see Canada's efforts focus on training and development after that time.
"We think that the military forces of Canada have a role to play after February 2009. Even though it's not combat, it will be for security," Dion told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Dion said Karzai was not aware that was a possibility until speaking with him.
"At the end of the day, the goal is that they will take care of their country (on) their own," he said.
Dion and Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff, in Afghanistan on a diplomatic tour, made an unannounced visit to Kandahar Airfield.
The stop came near the end of their first trip to Afghanistan, during which they met with Afghan government officials, aid workers and Canadian troops.
Dion told Question Period that their meeting with Karzai was "meaningful," and that they discussed Canada's future in the country.
"He understands that the goal of the Canadian presence in Afghanistan is for the people of Afghanistan to defend themselves, and to learn to do it on their own," Dion said.
The current mandate from Parliament has the combat mission ending in February 2009, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper would like to see it extended.
He is awaiting the report of a special blue-ribbon panel, chaired by hawkish former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley, to recommend a path forward for the mission. That report is expected by the end of the month.
Karzai, meanwhile, told Dion he would like Canada to extend its military presence, but wanted to tell Canadians that Afghanistan would welcome them in any capacity.
Some of the roles Dion said a Liberal-led Canada would focus on include:
- Training police forces;
- Countering corruption;
- Creating strong education programs for women; and,
- Water management.
Dion also said troops would focus on security, but not "proactively looking for interaction with the enemy."
Canada has about 2,500 troops operating in Kandahar province, one of the most violent regions in the country. Seventy-six of them have died since 2002, along with a Canadian diplomat.
On Sunday, Dion and Ignatieff also visited Camp Nathan Smith in downtown Kandahar City.
They met with RCMP officers involved in training the Afghan National Police, and with officials from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Britain's involvement could last decades
Britain could be engaged in Afghanistan for decades, warns Britain's Defence Secretary Des Browne.
In an interview published by People newspaper on Sunday, Browne said Britain cannot let Afghanistan become a haven for terrorists, and that securing the country would take decades.
He did however suggest that military involvement could ease sooner than that.
Britain has had troops in Afghanistan since November 2001. There are currently about 7,700 British personnel serving there, most engaging the Taliban in the south.
With a report by CTV's Murray Oliver and files from The Associated Press
