A Canadian soldier travelling in a convoy carrying the senior commander in Kandahar province was killed Friday when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

Cpl. Nick Bulger, 30, was a member of 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.

CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer, reporting from Kabul, said security sources told her the convoy was travelling in the direction of Helmand province when the vehicle struck the IED.

Five other soldiers were hurt, but Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the Canadian who commands NATO's Task Force Kandahar, escaped injury.

A follow-up convoy also encountered trouble on that same road, Frayer reported.

The IED explosion comes the day after a major U.S. anti-Taliban offensive got underway in southern Afghanistan.

Operation "Strike of the Sword" began Thursday, with thousands of U.S. Marines venturing into Taliban strongholds in Helmand province.

The goal is to eradicate insurgents from the region before the presidential election scheduled for Aug. 20.

Canadians expected an uptick in hostilities as the U.S. surge began, Frayer said. "For the most part the U.S. military has reported been meeting very little resistance... But this is keeping in line with the usual Taliban tactics of laying low during a push and then returning."

Bulger is the third Canadian death in Afghanistan in less than a month. He leaves behind a wife, Rebeka, and two daughters.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended his condolences to the soldier's family and expressed "profound regret" about the death.

"Hard-won progress is being made in Afghanistan," Harper said. "Remarkable Canadians like Corporal Bulger will be remembered for their dedication and ultimate sacrifice for peace and freedom."

According to Lakefield Herald community newspaper, Bulger was born in Toronto and moved to the small town of Buckhorn, Ontario in 1985. The newspaper ran a profile of Bulger last month.

He attended Lakefield District Secondary School in Lakefield, Ontario and then went on to Sir Sanford Fleming college in Peterborough, Ontario were he earned a diploma in Fire Safety Security Management.

The Lakefield Herald also states that Bulger started basic military training in November of 2000 in Saint Jean, Quebec, underwent trades training for the infantry in Wainwright, Alberta, and then in 2001 became the rifleman and armoured vehicle driver for the First Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton. He took a break from the forces and returned in January 2008.

The death of Bulger brings to 121 the total number of Canadian soldiers have died as part of the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.

With files from The Canadian Press