On the day two Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were wounded in a roadside bomb, there is word the Conservative government is planning to extend Canada's mission in the country by two years.

"The Conservative cabinet has been talking about extending the mission until February 2009," said CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife.

"Today, the House Leader (Rob Nicholson) approached opposition house leaders to discuss with them having a motion and a vote on an extension -- possibly sometime this week."

Those negotiations are expected to continue on Tuesday, leading up to a final approval from cabinet later this week.

There are currently about 2,300 Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, with most stationed at Kandahar airfield, on a mission that is scheduled to end in February 2007.

Fife said extending the mission eases any concerns the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) -- which is taking over the U.S.-led mission in perilous southern Afghanistan -- may have over Canada's commitment.

"They want some certainty from Canada," he said.

"More importantly, it's about politics. The Conservatives are worried about the Liberal leadership race; they're afraid that the next leader may pull the plug on Liberal support for Afghanistan, so they want to get it over now."

Opposition parties have been calling on the government recently to move troops from Afghanistan to Darfur, Sudan, where a bloody internal conflict has led to what many describe as the 21st century's first genocide.

The Conservative government motion also comes at a time when recent public opinion polls show that support for the mission has dropped.

Fifteen Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

In the latest incident, two Canadian soldiers were injured Monday when a roadside bomb struck their armoured vehicle as it travelled north of Kandahar.

The soldiers had been sent in a Nyala armoured jeep to repair a vehicle that was part of a Canadian convoy moving north to Gumbad -- a village about 74 kilometres north of Kandahar.

The bomb exploded at around 2:25 p.m. local time, as the vehicle was just 10 kilometres south of Gumbad.

"We've been told that the injuries sustained by soldiers are not life-threatening," CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Kandahar.

Both soldiers were airlifted by helicopter to the coalition forces base at Kandahar Airfield, Mackey Frayer said.

"A vehicle in the main resupply convoy ... broke down. There is tremendous heat at this time of the year and the vehicles really struggle, especially carrying a lot of cargo.

"Another vehicle was dispatched from the forward operating base to come and repair that vehicle, and it was that service vehicle that was hit."

The South African-made Nyala is built to withstand land mines. It is a new type of vehicle being used by the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

"The Nyala did what it was supposed to do: it saved the lives of the two soldiers who were in that vehicle,'' Canadian military spokesman Maj. Marc Theriault said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.

"It's the first time that this vehicle has actually been hit by an IED."

IED is the acronym for improvised explosive device.

The blast happened on a stretch of road nicknamed "IED Alley," due to the number of bombs known as improvised explosive devices.

Four journalists and others were reportedly travelling with the convoy, but there were no other injuries.

The attack came two days after insurgents attacked Kandahar airfield, the fifth such strike at the base since Canadian troops arrived at the end of February. There were no casualties in the attack.

Four Canadians were killed in April when they were attacked near Gumbad. The roadside bomb went off as their convoy was returning to Kandahar following a goodwill visit.

Forward Operating Base Gumbad is one of several operating bases for Canadian Forces as they try to further their push into Kandahar province.