OTTAWA, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Four Canadian soldiers were killed and 10 injured in three separate attacks in Southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the Canadian Department of National Defense said.

    Three Canadians were killed and six injured when Taliban militants attacked soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades on the outskirts of Kandahar, the Defense Department said in a press release on Thursday.

    The soldiers, whose name were not immediately released, are members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton.

    They were supporting Afghan national police in clearing a suspected Taliban position in the Zharey district. The insurgents attacked at around 12:30 p.m. Kandahar time. All six injured soldiers were reported to be in good condition.

    The soldiers died just hours after Canadian soldier Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid was killed and four others injured in two separate roadside bombings around 30 kms west of Kandahar in the Pashmul area.

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper said while the loss of soldier's lives in Afghanistan was tragic, the deaths would not affect Canada's operations there.

    "The government and Canadians stand behind this mission," Harper told a caucus meeting in Cornwall, Ontario on Thursday.

    "This government will honor their sacrifice. We are proud of the work they are doing," he said.

    Thursday's fatalities brought to 23 the number of soldiers killed since Canadians moved into Afghanistan in 2002. Fifteen have died in the last six months alone. There are now about 2,200 Canadian troops in Kandahar region.

    News of the Canadian soldiers' deaths came the same day as interment ceremonies were being held at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa for two Canadian soldiers killed in a suicide blast near Kandahar last month. Enditem