QUEBEC — A contingent of 120 soldiers from the fabled Royal 22nd Regiment left Canadian Forces Base Valcartier Monday to fight the Taliban but also bring humanitarian aid to war-torn Afghanistan.

The soldiers from the regiment, which is better known as the Van Doos, will join their colleagues in Kandahar, in the south of the country, for a nine-month mission.

A military spokesman said 100 of the solders will join the provincial reconstruction team, which has been in place in southern Afghanistan for more than a year.

They will focus on rebuilding community centres and schools and will help supply drinking water to the region.

The remaining 20 soldiers, who have been trained as paramedics, will help provide medical aid. "It's a dangerous mission, there are risks,'' said Capt. Eric Chamberland, a Canadian Forces spokesman.

"The reconstruction teams are attacked regularly.''

Combat operations overshadowed the reconstruction portion of the Canadian mission this year as the security situation deteriorated. More Afghans and Canadians have died in fighting and bombings in 2006 than at any time since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Two Canadian soldiers were killed Nov. 27 in an roadside bomb attack, the 43rd and 44th Canadian soldiers to die in action during the Afghanistan deployment.

Officials estimate some 3,700 Afghans have died in 2006.

Afghans have complained about the slow pace of reconstruction and Canadian officials admit they've had to move resources from the aid effort into fighting roles.

The troops from Quebec were sent bolster the PRT so it could ramp up rebuilding projects. The Van Doos should take some of the heat off troops already there, Chamberland said.

The 120 troops spent several weeks last September training at Wainwright, Alta.

They're expected to arrive in Afghanistan after a 36 hour trip.