Canadian military officials in Kandahar today identified the second soldier killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan on Saturday.
He is Sapper Mathieu Allard (top picture)of the 5th Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que.
Allard, 21, was killed alongside his friend, Cpl. Christian Bobbitt, 23, in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar.
Military officials had withheld Allard's name until officials contacted next of kin.
The explosion took place around 3:20 pm. local time Saturday, 15 kilometres west of Kandahar city.
The soldiers had dismounted from their vehicle to secure an area west of Kandahar after an earlier blast when another improvised explosive device detonated.
A third soldier was seriously injured and is in stable condition in hospital.
Bobbit was a member of the 5th Combat Engineer Regiment. The soldiers had been in Kandahar since March, as part of the 2e Batallion of the Royal 22e Regiment, known as the Van Doos.
The two soldiers were combat engineers and belonged to a unit that specialize in clearing the roads of IEDs. It is likely they had been involved in defusing half the roadside bombs found in Kandahar in July.
"I can say with confidence that these two brave combat engineers saved the lives of dozens of innocent people last month alone.'' Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said.
Since 2002, 127 Canadian soldiers have been killed while serving their county in the Afghanistan mission.
These two Soldiers and good friends, who did one of the most dangerous jobs in a war zone, are true Canadian heroes. May they rest in peace.
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