The official mourning period for Cpl. Jamie Murphy is over, and his fellow soldiers are back patrolling the streets of Kabul on foot.

"The only thing we do is we come out," said Master Cpl. John Miller as he rode in an armoured vehicle down a busy Kabul street. "We're soldiers; we do the best we can do and we all hope it doesn't happen."

"It" happened to Murphy. The 26-year-old from Conception Harbour, Nfld. was killed when a suicide bomber jumped on his Iltis jeep Tuesday. Three of his fellow soldiers were wounded, as were some Afghan citizens.

Two other Canadian soliders have died in Afghanistan during this current stabilization mission. Sgt. Robert Short and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger died Oct. 2 when at least one anti-tank mine hidden on a sandy track in hills south of Kabul exploded under their vehicle during a routine patrol. Three other soldiers were injured.

When the mission began last summer, military officials estimated between five and 10 Canadian soldiers would be killed over the 12-month mission.

Stabilization work means looking for bad guys but also building good relations with ordinary Afghans. Doing so means getting close to them. Miller said when soldiers are on foot, they know they are especially vulnerable.

A suicide bomber could be lurking anywhere, but they can't show their fear.

"The main thing to do is just keep pushing on," Miller said. "And no (matter) what strikes or what kind of terrorism they do against us, we just keep forward with the mission, keep pushing, show them that they're not winning."

The attacks this week - first on the Canadian troops and on Wednesday against British soldiers - are prompting strong reactions on the streets of Kabul.

Afghanistan's capital is relatively secure because of the efforts of 2,000 Canadian and about 3,000 soldiers from other countries. The rest of the country is essentially under the control of warlords or the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalists who were ousted from power in late 2001 but who have been regrouping in the country's south.

"We condemn this action," said Noorullah Ramoz. "It's an inhuman action actually that they killed the Canadian troops and the British troops."

Jamshid Yaquibdi said, "I'm very upset about this action the al Qaeda network has done in Afghanistan and I am very sad about this."

It isn't clear yet who was responsible for the attack on the Canadians, although the Taliban has taken credit for the blasts, saying it is the start of a campaign.

CTV did speak with a local merchant who claimed to have seen the blast and the face of the man responsible.

"He had a big beard. I am certain from that and his complexion that he was an Arab," he said, speaking in Dhari.

Maj.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, deputy commander of NATO's International Stabilization Assistance Force, suspects foreign forces were involved.

"We have the heads of the two attackers and obviously we're doing an analysis on a variety of system with a whole bunch of assistance from some friends to figure out where they're from and who they are."

Results are expected in a few days.

CTV's Matt McClure said the security situation has eased since Tuesday's attack, but commanders aren't ready to switch back to light jeeps from the armoured Coyotes now being used for motorized patrols.

CTV's Matt McClure contributed to this report.