Canada's new top soldier in Kandahar has said he hopes Afghan soldiers will take on a larger security role in Afghanistan in order to reduce Canadian casualties.

"The way to essentially reduce the risk is to have again more Afghans doing the work," Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche told reporters after he arrived at the Kandahar Air Field Friday night to replace Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, who is leaving after a nine-month stay.

Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, seen here at the Quebec national assembly last month, said the increased number of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan will make it difficult to prevent the number of Canadian deaths in the conflict from rising.
(Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

Laroche takes command of soldiers mostly from the Royal 22nd Regiment based in Quebec, where public support for the Canadian mission in Afghanistan is at its lowest.

Shifting responsibility for the heavy fighting to the Afghan National Army is a key NATO objective, but so far the ill-equipped Afghan forces have not lived up to expectations.

Fewer than 500 Afghan soldiers are currently fighting alongside Canada's combat group in the Kandahar region, although that number is expected to more than triple in the next year.

Still, it's not combat that's killing the most Canadians, but improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Laroche said, adding that the increased number of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan will make it difficult to prevent the number of Canadian deaths in the conflict from rising.

"Reducing losses is always difficult," he said. "We have very few casualties … based on face-to-face engagement. Basically, what we've been dealing with since the beginning is IEDs."

Roadside bombs have killed 18 of the 22 Canadian soldiers who died in the past six-month rotation in Afghanistan, and there are no signs the danger from IEDs will end soon, Laroche said.

Sixty-six Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2002.