About 140 Canadian soldiers had happy reunions with their families Saturday as they returned from a six-month stint in Afghanistan.

They are the latest part of the Vandoos Regiment, based in Valcartier, Quebec, to return.

The Canadian troops will be replaced by about 600 troops from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry's 3rd Battalion based in Edmonton.

The new group is to stay until next February. They will provide intelligence and reconnaissance report to the entire NATO mission there and help train a new Afghan national army.

The smaller commitment is part of a plan by the military to scale back its overseas commitments for a time. Missions in Bosnia, Haiti and the Persian Gulf will also be affected.

For the past year, Canadian troops have mainly been helping provide security in and around Kabul, the war-ravaged nation's capital.

On Monday, Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier, who had been commanding the entire International Stabilization and Assistance Force (ISAF), will formally turn over command of the 6,300-strong mission to a French general.

Canada started what it called Operation Athena in August 2003.

There were grim predictions between five and 10 Canadian troops would die over that 12-month period.

Three wound up being killed. Two soldiers died after their Iltis jeep ran over an explosive device last October. Two others were injured. A third soldier was killed during an attack by a suicide bomber in Kabul. Three others were wounded.