More than 1,000 soldiers said farewell Sunday to a Canadian comrade who lost his life to a buried bomb as he conducted a routine foot patrol with Afghan soldiers about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.

Pallbearers carried the casket of Sgt. John Wayne Faught, 44, into a military transport aircraft to begin the journey back to Canada. Faught is the latest of the 139 soldiers to die in the eight-year-old mission.

In Ottawa on Sunday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay paid tribute to Faught while taking part in a briefing on Canada's response to the earthquake in Haiti.

"He was a career soldier and admired throughout the Canadian Forces family, and we mourn with his loved ones," MacKay said.

As the ramp ceremony took place, word came down that a U.S. soldier had also died in eastern Afghanistan.

The incident that killed Faught took place about 2 p.m. local time Saturday. No one else was injured. It was the third lethal attack on Canadian troops in the past three weeks.

Faught, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was called Toast by his fellow soldiers because he had a crusty personality. He planned to retire in two years. He was a member of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based out of Edmonton.

"He was a very conscientious and thorough section commander who always put the needs of his soldiers above his own," Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, Canada's top commander in Afghanistan, told reporters.

On a Facebook page to commemorate Canada's fallen soldiers, one woman wrote: "R.I.P. Toast. You were my son's section commander and well respected. I understand that you were also very funny."

Faught, who was unmarried, had been on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The village where Faught died is called Nakhoney. It is part of a district called Panjwaii, where Canadians have been fighting and dying since moving to Kandahar province in early 2006. Lieut. Andrew Nuttall died near Nakhoney on Dec. 23, also during a foot patrol.

Nuttall had been living in the area as part of a new approach. The goal is to protect civilians from insurgents and get to know the locals better.

At that time, Canadian commanders said the program was very successful despite the death, claiming locals were stepping forward more to inform Canadian troops about improvised explosive devices.

The deadliest incident occurred Dec. 30 when four soldiers and a Calgary journalist died after their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb on the southern outskirts of Kandahar City.

With files from The Canadian Press