KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 5  -- A roadside bomb in Afghanistan killed three Canadian soldiers and seriously injured two others Friday near Kandahar, military officials said.

The troops were on patrol in an armored vehicle around 9 a. m. when they hit the device, U. S. Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker, the deputy chief of staff of U. S. and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, told reporters in a teleconference call.

The deaths are the first for the new rotation of Canadian troops, who arrived in Kandahar in September, a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. correspondent reported.

Details of the soldiers' exact location and mission weren't released, and names were being withheld pending notification of relatives, the Canwest News Service reported.

The fatalities were the first in almost three months among the 2,750 Canadian troops participating in the NATO mission.

The deaths brought the mission's Canadian toll to 100. (UPI)