OTTAWA (AFP) - A Canadian soldier was killed and another was wounded Tuesday in a gun battle with insurgents that erupted while they were on a foot patrol near Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan, an official said.
"One Canadian soldier was killed and another one was injured as a result of enemy fire during a patrol in the Pashmul region in the district of Zharey," Brigadier-General Guy Laroche said in a televised address from Kandahar.
"Immediately following the incident, the soldiers were evacuated by helicopters to Kandahar Airfield where one soldier was pronounced dead," he said.
"The injured soldier is in good condition and stable."
Canada deployed 2,500 soldiers in Kandahar as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.
The latest death brings Canada's toll to 83 soldiers and one diplomat since the start of the mission in 2002.
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