KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan - Two Canadian soldiers were wounded Tuesday in the explosion of a roadside bomb west of Kandahar city, a military spokeswoman said.

The early afternoon blast happened about 40 kilometres west of the city near police substation.

The soldiers suffered only cuts and bruises and returned to work shortly after the incident, officials said.

The military did not release the type of vehicle the soldiers were riding in at the time.

But the spokeswoman, Capt. Josee Bilodeau, said the armour on the vehicle protected the soldiers from more serious injuries.

"The vehicle did its job,'' Bilodeau said.

Roadside bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, are a common tool of the insurgency in southern Afghanistan.

They have been responsible for killing the majority of the 78 Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since the Canadian military mission began in 2002.

Such bombs have also extracted a deadly toll among Afghan security forces and civilians.

More than a dozen civilians have been killed by IEDs since the beginning of the year.

Recent statistics released by the International Security Assistance Force suggest IED incidents throughout Afghanistan were up 64 per cent in 2007.