19-08-07, 18:15
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August 19, 2007
Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
By MARTIN OUELLET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Another Canadian soldier has been killed in southern Afghanistan - the 67th since the military mission began in 2002.
Pte. Simon Longtin, 23, of Longueuil, Que., on Montreal's south shore, was killed early today when his light armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb at 1:40 a.m. local time.
Longten, a member of the Royal 22nd Regiment - the Van Doos - was in a convoy on escort duty when the bomb detonated west of Kandahar city, five kilometres east of the volatile village of Masum Ghar.
Col. Christian Juneau, deputy commander of the Canadian joint task force, said Longten was evacuated by helicopter from the scene of the attack but was dead on arrival at the military hospital in Kandahar.
"It's almost like losing a brother," Juneau said. "We're a big family here, brothers in arms, and it's not just a statement that we take lightly in the military. So it really touches every one of us pretty deeply. But we'll mourn, we'll pay respects to the family and our fallen comrade and we'll carry on with the mission."
The death is the first among the 2,300-member ranks of the Valcartier, Que.-based Van Doos since they began their six-month tour in Afghanistan at the end of July.
It was also the third attack on Canadians in a week.
Last Sunday, five soldiers were injured when their RG-31 vehicle hit a roadside bomb on the same road as Sunday's fatal attack.
And on Friday, two Edmonton-based soldiers were slightly injured when an armoured tracked vehicle was struck by a similar improvised explosive.
Sunday's death was the first Canadian fatality in Afghanistan since July 4, when five soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while travelling in an LAV just west of Kandahar.
Juneau said the military makes every attempt to safeguard its troops.
"We protect our soldiers the best way we can through training, providing them with equipment that is probably some of the best in the world," he said.
"But we cannot foresee every event, every type of explosive, every threat the enemy is throwing at us."
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