14 Apr 06: Canadian soldiers believed injured in Afghanistan

[vonGarvin]

Just saw this on the CBC.CA site two minutes ago.  Here's hoping that all are well, that rumour mills shut down and that any loved ones affected back home are comforted.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/14/afghan-060414.html




Garvin out

 

[Franko]

From CTV....basically the same.

Three Canadian soldiers injured in Afghanistan

Updated Fri. Apr. 14 2006 9:03 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Three Canadian soldiers have been injured in a traffic accident in Afghanistan.

The accident occurred between 40 and 50 kilometres north of Kandahar, and the injured soldiers were airlifted to a medical facility, said CTV's Sarah Galashan, reporting from Kandahar Airfield Friday morning.

Galashan said officials held a press conference Friday morning at Kandahar Airfield, the main operating base in the country. She said the officials released few details, but said the soldiers' injuries were not life-threatening.

"We know very little about the traffic accident at this point," Galashan said. "We haven't heard whether it was a convoy, what type of vehicle they were riding in, we just know three Canadian soldiers have been injured."

More to come...

Click on the video link to get a bit more info....


Mod note: Let's keep to the facts and not speculate on this one troops. 

 

[camochick]

Just watching the news on ctv news net, they said the afghan army was under attack and the canadians responded and a Lav was hit with 2 rpg's but no one was injured . There is still no news about the traffic accident though. Guess we just sit back and wait to hear. Thank god no one was killed. God bless the LAV.

 

[GAP]

Having been in an Amtrac when hit with RPG, they can be scary...Thank god the guys are using the LAVIII. This little machine is really proving it's worth!! Bravo !

 

[vonGarvin]

Mod note: Let's keep to the facts and not speculate on this one troops.   

Exactly and amen.

As always, thoughts are with the troops in harm's way

 

[Korus]

According to the report on canoe.ca, the traffic accident was in the Shah Wali Kot district, but no other new details.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/04/14/1534573-cp.html

 

[NL_engineer]

The latest from CBC
Source:http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/14/afghan-060414.html

Canadian vehicle hit in Taliban rocket attack
Last Updated Fri, 14 Apr 2006 12:34:41 EDT

There were no reports of injuries in that incident as of 11:25 a.m. EDT. The vehicle was slightly damaged.

CBC News' Sasha Petricic reported that Taliban forces fired the rocket-propelled grenade at the Canadian light armoured vehicle as it was rushing to a battle scene on the main highway about 10 kilometres west of Kandahar.

The Canadian LAV was one of several that was sent out after Taliban forces ambushed a group of Afghan soldiers and police.

What started out as a minor skirmish rapidly escalated into a significant battle that lasted for most of the afternoon. Canada sent about 100 soldiers to the scene along with several LAVs, attack helicopters and heavy artillery.

In a separate incident, at least three Canadian soldiers were injured Friday morning in a traffic accident north of Kandahar. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Lieut. Mark MacIntyre, a Canadian Forces spokesman, said the injured soldiers were immediately flown to a nearby medical station. They will be transferred to Canada's main base in Kandahar if further treatment is necessary.

Details are sketchy but the Canadian soliders were apparently driving in a convoy about 65 kilometres north of Kandahar when they went off the road.

Two Canadian soldiers have died and 17 have been injured in vehicle accidents since the Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan in early February. About 2,400 Canadian troops were operating Friday in several locations in and around the city of Kandahar.

The incidents came a few hours after a suicide bomber drove a stationwagon rigged with explosives into a British convoy near the city of Lashkar Gar, injuring three British soldiers and one Afghan national.

According to CBC Newsworld, the fire fight is still on going.

 

[Franko]

From CTV:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060414/canadian_soldiers_060414/20060414?hub=TopStories

Cdn. troops unscathed after Afghanistan attack

Updated Fri. Apr. 14 2006 4:13 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

No troops were injured after a Canadian light armoured vehicle came under attack in Afghanistan Friday, sustaining two hits from rocket propelled grenades.

CTV's Sarah Galashan said the soldiers were fired on by suspected Taliban insurgents after they were dispatched to help fight off a strike against Afghan National Army troops and a police patrol.

The LAV3 came under fire about 10 kilometres west of Kandahar City, Galashan told CTV Newsnet from Afghanistan.

"No Canadians were hurt. The vehicle was able to protect them. What they were able to do was change the tires and continue on," Galashan said.

Coalition forces dispatched helicopter patrols to the area to hunt down the suspected Taliban attackers, and artillery was also set up, Galashan said.

"This is an ongoing situation. The initial attack against the Afghan National Army and police patrol was small arms fire against them, at which point the Canadian troops were dispatched to aid," she said.

American Apache attack helicopters were also sent to fight the insurgents, along with two British Harrier jetfighters and an unknown number of U.S. A-10 tank-buster aircraft. The American helicopters apparently fired rockets at the attackers, The Canadian Press reports.

Two Afghan soldiers died during the fight and two more were injured, according to CP. A civilian was also hurt.

In a separate incident Friday morning, three Canadian soldiers were injured in a traffic accident in Afghanistan.

The accident occurred in Sha Wali Kot district, 65 kilometres north of Kandahar.

The soldiers were airlifted to a medical facility with apparently minor injuries. Two of the three soldiers were described as having suffered only "bumps and bruises," said Galashan.

Officials held a press conference Friday morning at Kandahar Airfield, the main military base in the country. They released few details, but confirmed the soldiers' injuries were not life-threatening.

"We know very little about the traffic accident at this point," Galashan said. "We haven't heard whether it was a convoy, what type of vehicle they were riding in, we just know three Canadian soldiers have been injured."

Lieutenant Mark MacIntyre, a Canadian Forces spokesman, said the injured soldiers would be further evaluated and if they needed more treatment they would be evacuated to the main coalition hospital at Kandahar airfield.

 

[Armymatters]

That LAV that got hit by an RPG was part of the response to a major gun fight:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/15/afghan-cdn060415.html

41 Taliban killed, 13 captured in battle, Kandahar governor says
Last Updated Sat, 15 Apr 2006 17:43:33 EDT
CBC News

Forty-one Taliban fighters were killed and 13 captured in a battle with Afghan forces that drew about 100 Canadian troops as reinforcements, the governor of Kandahar province said on Saturday.

    * INDEPTH: Canadian Casualties

Relatives of three Afghan police officers killed by suspected Taliban fighters wait around the bodies of their relatives at Kandahar's main hospital on Saturday. (Rahim Faiez/Associated Press)

The battle took place Friday near the town of Singisar in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban movement was founded in the early 1990s, Assadullah Khalid told Agence Presse International. Singisar is also the birthplace of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, put the Taliban deaths at only three and said there were "high casualties among Afghan and foreign forces."

    * FROM APRIL 14, 2006: Canadian vehicle hit in Taliban grenade attack

Six Afghan policemen and a teenage boy were also killed, but there were no reported casualties among the U.S.-led forces in the battle in the Zare Dasht district.

A large band of Taliban fighters, which had been driven out of neighbouring Helmand province by U.S. troops last week, was discovered near the town on Friday by members of the Afghan National Police, Khalid said.

The police called in reinforcements from the Afghan National Army. When that wasn't enough, the call went out for Canadian troops and artillery.

They arrived about three hours after the battle started and cordoned off the area to prevent the Taliban from escaping, said Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, a senior Canadian officer.

According to Canadian military officials in Kandahar, the sudden appearance of the Canadians, along with coalition helicopters, intimidated the Taliban fighters, who began to retreat into the compounds.

U.S. helicopter gunships raked the compounds with rocket fire before Afghan police stormed in, wearing no body armour and carrying only assault rifles, he said.

A Canadian light armoured vehicle fired at Taliban forces after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The attack left the vehicle with a blown tire that was repaired at the scene of the attack.

"They [Afghan forces] are very, very brave. I applaud their determination not to put up with continued attacks by the Taliban," Hope told reporters.

He said Canadian soldiers were on the hunt for insurgents in villages southwest of Kandahar on Saturday, searching for Taliban fighters who managed to escape the gun battle.

Nice job by the Afghans and our troops. We bagged 13 Taliban troops as prisoners, and sent 41 to push up some daises. Nice job.

 

[wdewitt]

Good work by our troops and show our troops are not scared to take them on. They under estimate our ability to fight.