KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Three Canadian troops were killed and another injured Wednesday when their vehicle was blasted by an explosive device west of Kandahar city in the most devastating strike against the Canadians so far this year.
Sergeant Shawn Eades, Corporal Dustin Wasden and Sapper Stephan Stock died in the attack.
It is the worst one-day toll for the Canadians since July 4 of last year when six soldiers were lost in a single explosion.
All three men who died this week were combat engineers with the 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Regiment, based out of Edmonton. They were attached to the Second Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group and were conducting a patrol when the device detonated.
From left: Canadian Sgt. Shawn Eades, a combat engineer with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment from Edmonton, and attached to the Second Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group; Cpl. Dustin Wasden, of the same unit; and Sapper Stephan Stock, a combat engineer, also with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment. The soldiers were killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan. (CP/Department of National Defence)
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The vehicle in which the troops were riding was blown up near the village of Howz-e-Madad in the Zhari district where the Taliban have many enclaves of power.
The local police chief said the explosives were hidden in a culvert.
The injured soldier is listed in serious but stable condition and has been in contact with his family since the incident.
Sgt. Eades was respected by his subordinates, his peers and his superiors for his outstanding professionalism, said Brigadier-General Denis Thompson. This was his third tour of Afghanistan.
"He was a devoted father who liked to share stories with his children, colleagues and friends," said Brig.-Gen.Thompson.
"An engineer reconnaissance team is a tight-knit unit and these men were no exception. They were a well-trained, highly motivated crew and believed in their mission. As combat engineers, they were proud, resourceful and armed with technical knowledge they generously used in this mission to help the people of Kandahar."
It has been months since Canadian troops were killed in a vehicle that ran over a device planted by the Taliban. Two other Canadian soldiers died in explosions this summer, but both were on foot patrol. No Canadian vehicle has been hit since April.
Last year, however, almost all of the Canadian deaths occurred when the vehicles in which the troops were riding encountered explosive devices.
The deaths Wednesday bring the military toll in the Afghanistan conflict to 93. One diplomat has also died. Nineteen Canadian soldiers have been killed in 2008.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, who learned about the deaths moments before he met with reporters in Toronto, expressed condolences to the families on behalf of the Opposition.
"[These] terrorist attacks will not change our resolution to help the people of Afghanistan. We are a great people and we'll face their awful attacks against our soldiers with courage and determination," Mr. Dion said.
It has been a difficult week in Afghanistan for the coalition forces.
The explosion Wednesday that took the lives of the Canadians came the same day that three Polish troops were killed in the central part of the country when their vehicle also struck a roadside bomb.
On Monday, France lost 10 soldiers in an ambush near Kabul.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited a military chapel in the Afghan capital on Wednesday where the bodies of the dead men lay before they were to be flown home.
Mr. Sarkozy spoke to French troops from units who lost some of the soldiers killed during a firefight with the Taliban in the mountains about 50 kilometres east of Kabul on Monday. He also visited some of the 21 soldiers wounded in the battle.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also stopped in Afghanistan Thursday on his way to the Olympics. Mr Brown met with troops at the main British base in Helmand province, just west of Kandahar where the Canadians are stationed.
- with a report from the Associated Press
