Military

DATE=10/2/03

CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN/CANADIANS (L/S)

NUMBER=2-308168

BYLINE=MICHAEL KITCHEN

DATELINE=KABUL

INTERNET=

INTRO: Two Canadian peacekeepers were killed and three injured in the Afghan capital, Kabul, when their vehicle ran over a landmine. V-O-A's Michael Kitchen reports from Kabul the incident is under investigation.

TEXT: The mine explosion occurred (Thursday afternoon) when two jeeps with the International Security Assistance Force, known as I-SAF, were on a routine patrol in the greater Kabul area.

I-SAF says the lead jeep struck a mine, injuring five occupants, two of whom later died of their wounds. All five were Canadian.

I-SAF Spokesman Squadron Leader Paul Rice says a forensic team is investigating the explosion site and it is still too early to tell whether the incident was an accident or the result of a deliberately planted mine.

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But international officials say preliminary indications suggest an accident. Various types of land mines were planted in and around Kabul during the country's civil war in the 1990s.

The I-SAF peacekeeping mission is currently confined to Kabul, but since NATO took over its leadership in August, plans have been under discussion to possibly expand its mandate into Afghanistan's violence-plagued provinces. A decision on the matter is expected within the coming weeks and would likely involve a large increase in the force's current 55-hundred troop strength.

I-SAF's presence in Kabul has generally been seen as a source of security within the capital, where terror attacks are very rare, compared with much of the rest of Afghanistan.

The deaths mark the first I-SAF fatalities since June, when four German peacekeepers were killed on their way to the Kabul airport for a flight home. (SIGNED)

NEB/MK/TW/RAE