Armoured vehicles defended after deaths in Afghanistan

Asrelatives in Canada await the arrival of the bodies of two slain soldiers,military commanders in Afghanistan are defending thevehicles supplied to Canadian troops.

CorporalsFrancisco Gomez, 44,and Jason Patrick Warren, 29,died on Saturdaywhen a suicide bomber rammed their eight-wheeled Bison troop carriernear the coalition base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The Bison isone of the more heavilyarmoured vehicles used in the Kandahar area, where suicide attacks and roadside bombs make everypatrol potentially deadly.

But the Canadian military has faced some criticisms in the past from people who said its vehicles weren't sufficient to protect troops against the dangers they faced. Some of Canada's early casualties in Afghanistan were in Iltis light utility jeeps, which were dismissed by at least one grieving father as "made of pop cans."

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the commander of the Canadian-led multinational brigade based in Kandahar, said the troops are not being short-changed on armour.

The vehicles now used by Canadian troopsinclude theBison, the LAV-3 (another eight-wheeled armoured troop carrier) and theMercedes-Benz G-Wagon heavy jeep.

"We have mitigated the risk, I think, as best any nation can," Fraser said.

"Our soldiers' protective equipment … has saved lives. We are second to no one in the world, and second to no one in this theatre [of battle], in what we've done to mitigate and provide our troops with what we can."

Vehicle prevented more deaths: colonel

Col. Ian Hope,the commander of the unit that included corporalsGomezand Warren, said the Bison's armourhas probably prevented a number of deaths recently.

"We have had several dozen IED [improvised explosive device] strikes, suicide bombing strikes, upon our vehicles, so let's put it into context," he said.

'We've had two dead … last night. There could have well been 10 dead but for the armour plating and the capability of that vehicle.' -Col. Ian Hope,the commander of the unit that included corporalsFrancisco Gomezand Jason Warren

"Of those several dozen, we've had two dead … last night. There could have well been 10 dead but for the armour plating and the capability of that vehicle."

In April, fourCanadians were killed when a roadside bombhit their G-Wagon north of Kandahar.

The bodies ofthe twocorporals— the 18th and 19th Canadian soldiers killed in the country since 2002 —are to be flown home on Tuesday. Six Afghans were also killed in the attack, and eight other Canadian soldiers were wounded.