The Canadian now in command of an international force of peacekeepers in Afghanistan says conditions there make for a more dangerous mission than most, but he's confident his troops are prepared.

"It's a different mission, a dangerous mission because Afghanistan has seen war for the past 23 years," Brig.-Gen. Peter J. Devlin told CTV's Canada AM from Kabul Friday. "There's a tremendous amount of destruction and poverty, there's still ethnic differences, there's still warlords around the country -- all the conditions that are right to be able to prey upon the people of Afghanistan."

About 1,800 Canadian troops will join the 3,600-strong brigade of international peacekeepers charged with maintaining security around the war-torn Afghan capital of Kabul next month. They are scheduled to start patrol on Aug. 21.

With rebels and Taliban loyalists continuing to stage attacks on the peacekeepers, as well as against government targets, the job is a dangerous one. On Friday, eight Afghan government soldiers died when suspected members of the ousted Taliban regime detonated a landmine in the Khost province by remote control.

Last month, four German troops died when an explosive-laden car rammed into the bus they were riding to the airport.

In all, about 20 NATO-led troops have been killed in what have become weekly attacks.

On a scale of one to five, Devlin -- who assumed command of the Kabul Multinational Brigade Thursday -- rated the danger level to the troops "in the three to four range."

But Devlin expressed confidence that that there would be few Canadian casualties. "We have excellent rules of engagement, we have completed excellent training and we have excellent equipment. When you combine those, Canadian soldiers are well-prepared to complete their tasks and defend themselves, if necessary," he said.

Some military officials have estimated that between five and 10 Canadian soldiers will be killed on the Afghan deployment.

Said Devlin: "We hope that we'll be able to return with all the Canadians that we deployed to theatre, however there is danger here."

On Thursday, Defence Minister John McCallum acknowledged that the mission is far more dangerous than the typical United Nations peacekeeping operation. But he said Canadians are prepared for casualties among their soldiers.

"We all hope that there will not be," the defence minister said. "But if it is critical to the security of our country ... Canadians would accept the inevitability of it."

With a report from The Canadian Press