OTTAWA, Sept 29: A Canadian soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan on Friday, a spokeswoman for Canada’s defence department said.

“A Canadian soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device in the Panjwayi area about 25 kilometers west of Kandahar,” spokeswoman Lieutenant Carole Brown said.

“He was conducting a dismounted patrol at the time of the explosion. He was on foot,” she said.

No other soldier or civilians were injured in the blast, she added.

Earlier, NATO said a bomb blast killed a soldier with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) who was on foot patrol, but did not release the nationality of the casualty.

The soldier was on patrol in southern Kandahar province’s Zhari district, part of an area where ISAF this month wrapped up its biggest anti-Taliban offensive which it said had driven out entrenched rebels.

The fallen soldier, whose name has not been released at the request of his next of kin, was evacuated by helicopter to the Kandahar airfield, Ms Brown said.—AFP