A Canadian NATO soldier was killed and three others were injured in a car crash Friday in southern Afghanistan, a defense ministry spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday.

The accident took place when their armored jeep, part of a convoy, hit a civilian truck 25 km south of Kandahar airport, NATO announced earlier.

NATO has ruled out hostile action though the cause of the accident was not known yet.

The latest death brings to 24 the number of Canadian military personnel killed in Afghanistan by bomb attacks or road accidents.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in southern Afghanistan last Thursday when Taliban militants attacked soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades on the outskirts of Kandahar.

The militants have stepped up attacks against NATO-led forces in recent months, in the worst upsurge of violence since the U.S.-led alliance toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.

Source: Xinhua