Canadian killed in Afghanistan, brings toll to 82
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 4 (Reuters) - A Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Friday a day after Canada won reinforcement for its troops in the NATO-led force there, the military said.
The fatality brings Canada's military death toll in Afghanistan to 82.
The soldier's armored vehicle hit an explosive device in the Panjwayi district of southern Afghanistan and was declared dead at a military hospital in Kandahar, according to the Department of National Defense.
Canada had threatened to pull its forces out of Afghanistan in 2009 unless it received more support from other NATO countries in the Kandahar region, where its forces have been locked in combat with Taliban insurgents.
Canada said Thursday its troops will now stay until 2011 after France pledged to send 700 more troops to eastern Afghanistan in a move that will allow U.S. forces to be redeployed to Kandahar. (Reporting Allan Dowd)
