Canadians killed while assuring Afghans about safety

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http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September679.xml§ion=subcontinent

OTTAWA - Four Canadian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan on Monday while trying to reassure the locals that it was safe to return to their homes, the head of the NATO coalition in the region said.

‘The soldiers were conducting a patrol in the area to provide security in supporting the Afghan security forces, just trying to reassure the people...that there was security out there and to reassure the people that they could come back...,’ said the coalition commander, Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser.

They were killed by a Taleban suicide bomber on a bicycle.

On the details of what the soldiers were doing, he seemed to contradict information from NATO and from the Afghan police. NATO said they were giving gifts to the population, and the police said they were handing out notebooks and pens.