Canadian soldier, 4 others killed in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb killed a Canadian soldier in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide attack in the same region left three policemen and a civilian dead, officials said.
Canadian Pvt. Terry John Street, 24, died Friday in the volatile Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city, long a hotbed of Taliban activity, said Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
He said his soldiers were helping bring hope to the people of the war-torn nation.
This is why our brave men and women accept the risk of this mission,” he said.
I can only hope these thoughts will be of some comfort to the family and friends of Pvt. Street” _ the 82nd Canadian soldier to have died.
In the suicide attack, a bomber blew himself up near a police vehicle on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal. In addition to the four deaths, seven civilians and another policeman were wounded.
Helmand is the biggest opium poppy-producing region in the world and has seen some of the heaviest fighting between international troops and insurgents.