Roadside bomb kills Canadian soldier in Afghanistan

First casualty of new Quebec-based contingent

Last Updated: Sunday, August 19, 2007 | 7:48 AM ET

CBC News

A Canadian soldier from the Montreal area was killed early Sunday when the convoy he was travelling in hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, military officials said.

Pte. Simon Longtin, 23, of Longueuil, Que., was a member of Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, the famed Van Doos, based in Valcartier. He was the 67th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

Pte. Simon Longtin was killed after the armoured vehicle in which he was travelling struck an improvised explosive device 20 kilometres west of Kandahar city.
(DND)

"It's very, very saddening news," said Col. Christian Juneau, deputy commander of the Canadian joint task force. "It's like losing almost a brother … brother in arms, so it really touches every one of us deeply. We will pay our respects. We will mourn our colleague and carry on."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended his condolences to Longtin's family and compared Sunday's loss with one suffered 65 years ago, in the Second World War.

"In marking the 65th anniversary of the Dieppe raid, we pay tribute to the soldiers of our past. The sacrifices of soldiers like Pte. Longtin carry on this legacy today."

Longtin's light armoured vehicle (LAV) struck the roadside bomb at 1:40 a.m. local time, five kilometres east of the village of Masum Ghar. He was evacuated by helicopter from the scene of the attack, but was pronounced dead on arrival at the military hospital in Kandahar, Juneau said. 

The death is the first among the ranks of the 800-member Royal 22nd Regiment since they began a six-month tour in Afghanistan at the end of July.

Quebecers have not favoured the troop's involvement in Afghanistan. In recent months, protesters in Quebec City marched against Canada's role there, and a poll done at that time suggested more than two-thirds of Quebecers didn't want troops in Afghanistan.

Sunday's incident was the third attack on Canadians in a week.

Last Sunday, five soldiers were injured when their RG-31 vehicle hit a roadside bomb on the same route as Sunday's fatal attack. And on Friday, two soldiers were slightly injured when an armoured tracked vehicle was struck by a similar improvised explosive.

On July 4, five Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while travelling in a light armoured vehicle just west of Kandahar.

Canada has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the majority stationed in the volatile southern province of Kandahar.