(Corrects Gauthier's military rank in paragraph 4)

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan have arrested several bomb makers and militants in a series of raids over the last month, a senior military officer said on Thursday.

But despite these successes, he said the Taliban remained a substantial threat in southern Afghanistan and predicted some "tough slogging" before this year's fighting season ended with the arrival of winter weather.

Most of the 70 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2002 have died in blasts caused by roadside bombs and landmines -- also known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDS -- planted by the Taliban.

"We have conducted some targeted operations over the course of the last month, which have seen ... a number of known bomb makers and commanders of IED cells apprehended and detained," said Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier, who commands all troops on overseas missions.

"Over the course of the last month we've had some huge successes. We're having an impact on the security situation, notwithstanding some perceptions of a deteriorating situation," he told reporters on a conference call.

Gauthier, who said the raids had been carried out with Afghan forces, declined to give further details.

Canada has 2,500 soldiers based in the southern city of Kandahar on a mission that is due to end in February 2009.

A string of recent polls shows Canadians are deeply split over the issue of maintaining troops in Afghanistan. Opposition parties say they are ready to bring down the minority Conservative government if it tries to extend the mission.

"I won't concede we're done in 2009. That's a decision that hasn't been made yet," said Gauthier.

Although the Taliban could still plant roadside bombs there was no sign they were able to plan major combat operations of the type seen a year ago when militants launched a series of attacks on foreign and Afghan troops, he said.

NATO responded in September 2006 with a major two-week offensive in southern Afghanistan -- dubbed Operation Medusa -- which it said had killed up to 1,500 Taliban members.

Gauthier said that while in the run-up to Operation Medusa the Taliban had had the ability and the command structure needed to concentrate in very large numbers, "they have shown no such capability since then".

He added: "I have difficulty imagining the need to conduct another Medusa-like operation."

The militants, he said, were largely resorting to bomb attacks and IED attacks and low-level ambushes.

"But that's not to say that they're a weak and ineffective force ... Clearly they represent a substantial threat to the people of Afghanistan in the south and to coalition forces," said Gauthier.

"It's clear to all of us ... that challenges lie ahead. It's going to be tough slogging without question, not beyond our capabilities at all, but (there are) challenging days and weeks ahead as we work through this fighting season."

Combat operations in Afghanistan tend to wind down in the winter months.

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