A Canadian soldier is suffering from serious, non-life threatening injuries after stepping on a landmine Thursday in southern Afghanistan.
"This happens quite a lot, it's one of the more dangerous things that soldiers face which is the buried landmines that they so often step on or that their vehicles go over," said CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Paul Workman from Afghanistan.
MCpl. Jody Mitic from 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, was injured while conducted a routine pre-dawn patrol about three kilometres west of the volatile Panjwaii district, confirmed Lieut. Sue Stefko.
He was taken to hospital at Kandahar airfield.
Stefko said Mitic is in stable condition but will most likely be evacuated to the U.S. military hospital in Germany for more medical attention.
The patrol was part of Operation Falcon Summit, which has been targeting Taliban fighters and bomb-making facilities in the region since mid-December.
So far, troops have faced light resistance by Taliban forces in the operation.
Meanwhile, NATO said Thursday that as many as 150 insurgents were killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.
The fighters, travelling with several trucks of ammunition, had crossed the border from Pakistan and were attacked with ground fire and air strikes, said NATO.
"NATO sources say they were in touch with Pakistani officials the entire time that this operation was going on," said Workman.
"Of course this is a very touchy subject... Afghanistan accuses the Pakistani administration of supporting the Taliban and allowing their Taliban leaders and fighters to take refuge in Pakistan and cross the border at will."
Afghan officials estimated the death toll at between 50 to 80 fighters. It was not immediately clear why there was such a wide difference in the estimated death toll.
Taliban spokesperson, Dr. Muhammad Hanif, called the death toll "a complete lie" in a text message sent to an Associated Press reporter.
"The Americans want to boost morale of their troops while making such claims,'' said the message.
The fight in the Bermel district of Paktika province marks the first major exchange between NATO and the Taliban since the start of 2007.
With files from The Canadian Press
