OTTAWA, Sept 27: President Pervez Musharraf bluntly told Canadians on Tuesday to stop complaining about the number of soldiers they were losing in Afghanistan, saying Canada’s death toll was far less than Pakistan’s.

Canada has 2,300 troops based in Kandahar. In the past three months, 20 soldiers have been killed in clashes with Taliban, prompting calls for the mission to be brought back home.

Gen Musharraf told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that if Canada was worried about soldier fatalities, it should not be in the war-torn country.

“When you get involved in places like Iraq or Lebanon or Afghanistan, yes indeed you have to suffer casualties, and the nation must be prepared to suffer casualties. So if you’re not prepared to suffer casualties as an army, then don’t participate in any operation,” he said in an interview.

Since Canada joined the US-led war, about 35 of its soldiers have died in Afghanistan. “We have suffered 500 casualties. The Canadians have suffered four or five. What are you talking about? Who are you talking to? Who are you talking to? You are talking to the president of a country that has suffered 500 casualties,” Gen Musharraf said.—Reuters