KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The body of Canada's latest victim of Afghanistan's insurgency began its long journey home Tuesday after soldiers gathered for a grim ceremony at Kandahar Airfield.
Despite the loss, the military declared the operation in which he died a success, while his family expressed "deep sadness."
But the Taliban took a different view, saying the death should force Canadians to face the pain felt every time an innocent Afghan is killed.
They said it made them "happy."
The casket carrying Pte. Alexandre Peloquin, 20, who died Monday when he stepped on an explosive device, was loaded onto a Hercules transport in the evening ceremony that has become all too frequent.
About 2,000 soldiers and civilians were at the airfield to pay their respects as Peloquin's body left the blood-stained country forever.
Lt.-Col. Jocelyn Paul called it a "very tough day" filled with conflicting emotions.
"On one hand, we are grieving the loss of a friend and colleague," Paul said just before the ceremony.
"On the other hand, we know that we had tremendous success during that operation."
Nicknamed Pelo Black by his colleagues, Peloquin was the 119th Canadian soldier to die as part of the UN-sanctioned international effort to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.
In a statement released Tuesday, Peloquin's family called him "passionate" about life and his life in the military.
"We find a certain comfort knowing he did not die in vain because he was doing what he loved," the family said.
"Your devotion is no doubt the greatest memory that people who knew you and loved you will cherish the most. All these little moments in life will remain engraved in our memory forever."
But Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, said by telephone: "We are very happy, because in this way Canadians can feel the pain, and they will understand that we feel the same pain when an innocent Afghan gets killed somewhere."
"Canadians came to our country for the war; we didn't go there. When we kill them, it gives us much happiness."
"Canadians don't have to work under the command of Americans," Ahmadi said. "They don't have to see their innocent soldiers killed."
Despite Peloquin's death, the Canadian military declared the four-day operation aimed at disrupting an important insurgent staging area highly successful.
In a post-operation briefing, Lt.-Col. Mike Patrick said soldiers found about 15 ready-to-go improvised explosive devices along with electronic components and chemicals that could have been used to make dozens more.
"We've probably removed the ability of any cell operating in the ... area from effectively mounting an IED campaign," said Patrick, chief of operations for Joint Task Force Kandahar.
"That doesn't mean they won't come back or regenerate."
"Operation Constrictor" took place in villages around the town of Nakhoney in the dangerous Panjwaii district.
Taliban insurgents have been using the villages as staging or transit areas for attacks in Kandahar city, about 15 kilometres to the northeast.
The Nakhoney area is also adjacent to the Dand district, which the Canadian military has found to be more stable and pro-democracy.
About 500 Canadians along with a few hundred Afghan soldiers took part in the hunt for the potentially deadly improvised explosive devices, the main insurgent weapon against the international forces.
At times, the soldiers found themselves under fire.
"The insurgents chose to present themselves in small groups," Patrick said. "In every case where they chose to engage with us, they were effectively dealt with."
He refused to discuss details of the "contacts" or whether any insurgents had been killed.
It is the apparent inability of the insurgents to take on the Canadian forces head-on that has made improvised bombs their weapon of choice.
"He did actually step on an explosive device," Patrick said of Peloquin. "Very likely, it was an IED."
The military gave no further details surrounding the explosion.
"Constrictor" turned up quantities of chemical accelerants that can be combined with fertilizer to make explosives. Growing crops in the poor soil requires high nitrate fertilizer, which is easy to come by in southern Afghanistan.
Soldiers also seized timers, switches, wires and other digital components used for timing and detonating the bombs, along with radios and medical equipment.
"There is an insurgent cell that can no longer project itself," Patrick said.
Still, the explosive devices and components seized suggest some of the optimism of just a few months ago may have been misplaced.
In early March, village elders in the town of Salavat invited the Canadian and international forces to provide security, suggesting a potential turning point in the battle against the insurgency.
