Two Canadians were killed and five other soldiers injured in southern Afghanistan, military officials said Tuesday.

The soldiers were involved in a road construction project 20 kilometres west of Kandahar at about 4:50 p.m. when they came under attack from a handful of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

Sgt. Craig Paul Gillam, a member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan.
(Courtesy of DND)

Canadian military officials identified the dead as Sgt. Craig Paul Gillam and Cpl. Robert Thomas James Mitchell, both members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons based in Petawawa, Ont.

Gillam was a native of South Branch, a small community in the Codroy Valley on Newfoundland's west coast.

Mitchell lived in the Niagara Falls area, but grew up partly in Owen Sound, Ont. His parents still live there.

Cpl. Robert Thomas James Mitchell, a member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan.
(Courtesy of DND)

"They were members of the surveillance troop … a reconnaissance squadron," said Col. Fred Lewis, deputy commander of the Canadian contingent in Kandahar. "They were conducting vehicle checkpoints and observation posts at the time."

Two of the injured are in serious but stable condition. All were taken to Kandahar airfield, the main coalition base. 

"Almost immediately other forces responded to it, treated and medevaced the casualties, and carried on with the operation," said Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie, the ground-level commander of Canada's fighting force.

The attack occurred in the Panjwaii district, which had largely been cleared of Taliban insurgents in recent weeks as part of Operation Medusa.

"The last thing that the Taliban want is success in the final phase of Op Medusa," said Lewis, referring to the reconstruction effort.

"That is the phase that will sway the inhabitants one way or the other in terms of whether they want to support their own government or the Taliban," he added.

Canada has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, most operating in Kandahar province.

With the latest deaths, 39 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed since the mission started four years ago.

In an incident earlier Tuesday, Canadian troops escaped injury after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked near Kandahar city.

With files from the Canadian Press