A roadside bomb killed a Canadian soldier in southern Afghanistan Friday, while a suicide attack in the same region left three policemen and a civilian dead, officials said.
Canadian Pvt. Terry John Street, 24, of Hull, Quebec, died as the explosive detonated near his vehicle, said Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
The blast that killed Street — the 82nd Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan — took place in the volatile Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city, long a hotbed of Taliban activity.
Laroche said Canada's presence in Afghanistan is bringing hope to its people.
"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."
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.
In eastern Kunar province, a truck supplying fuel to NATO troops hit a roadside bomb that killed the Afghan driver Thursday, said a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force. No NATO service members were hurt in the attack.