Canadians killed while assuring Afghans about safety

OTTAWA, Sep 18 (Reuters) Four Canadian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan today 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 Taliban suicide bomber on a bicycle.

Fraser said Afghan civilians, including two children, as well as other Canadian soldiers were injured. None of the Canadian injuries were life-threatening, he said.

He was speaking in Kandahar in a briefing televised in Canada, which has 2,300 troops in the region and is currently heading up the NATO mission.

''The Taliban attacked the people of Afghanistan. They don't want the people of Afghanistan to have a stable environment,'' Fraser said, describing the attack as cowardly.

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.

Asked if this was true, he said: ''No, the soldiers were actually doing a security patrol. But there is significant humanitarian assistance going on.'' REUTERS PR RAI2044