CF Statement, and more info, shared with the usual disclaimer....
Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
CEFCOM news celease CEFCOM / COMFEC NR–07.039. 25 Sept 07
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OTTAWA - One Canadian soldier was killed and four others were wounded during Operation SADIQ SARBAAZ on September 24 at about 4:30 p.m. Kandahar time. The incident occurred approximately 47 km west of Kandahar City in the Panjwayi District.
The identity of the Canadian soldier killed is Corporal Nathan Hornburg, a Reserve soldier from the King's Own Calgary Regiment, based out of Calgary, Alberta.
Both helicopters and road ambulances were used to evacuate the casualties to the Multinational Medical Unit at Kandahar Airfield. The wounded soldiers are in stable condition and have contacted their families.
Operation SADIQ SARBAAZ (Honest Soldier) is a joint Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and ISAF operation that will set the conditions for a continuous security presence and the establishment of a new police sub-station in the northern part of Panjwayi.
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Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
Four others receive non-life-threatening injuries
Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service, 25 Sept 07
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A Canadian soldier was killed and four others were wounded during two of several intense battles in the hotly disputed Panjwai District.
Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, a 24-year-old reservist with the King's Own Calgary Regiment, died and another Canadian was wounded when a hail of mortars was fired at them by insurgents at the beginning of a prolonged firefight that began just before dusk Monday.
Hornburg, a mechanic, was killed as he tried to repair a track tread that had fallen off one of the Leopard tanks of the Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona's Horse near a cluster of villages known as Zangabad.
Cpl. Hornburg had dismounted to put back a track on the Leopard," Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the Canadian battle group commander, said.
"The terrain was very rough and (tank treads falling off) is something that we see on a regular basis.
Three more soldiers were wounded when they were attacked by rocket-propelled grenade fire, Laroche said.
The general expressed his "sincere condolences" to the fallen soldier's family.
"There is no way to comfort his family, friends and comrades today, except to say that Cpl. Hornburg believed in the mission he was involved in," Laroche said.
All wounded Canadian soldiers were ferried by U.S. Army medevac helicopters to the base hospital at Kandahar Airfield. Three of the wounded were from Quebec and the fourth was from Ontario, Laroche said. They had leg injuries, but none were life-threatening, he said.
The Canadians were conducting a day-long sweep operation dubbed Operation Sadiq Sarbaaz (Operation Good Soldier).
"The operation during which Cpl. Hornburg died was undertaken to increase security in northern Panjwai and to subsequently set up a police station," Laroche said.
It was the first Canadian death in southern Afghanistan since two Van Doos were killed by a roadside bomb on August 22 and the first Canadian death as a result of direct ground combat against the enemy in more than 11 months.
Most of the 71 Canadian military deaths in Afghanistan have come from improvised explosive devices buried under roads or from attacks on armoured convoys or patrols by suicide bombers driving cars packed with explosives.
Diplomat Glyn Barry was also killed in a suicide attack against a Canadian convoy in southern Afghanistan in January 2006.
Cpl. Hornburg was the 27th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan this year. Thirty-six Canadians died here last year. Canada has about 2,300 troops based in Afghanistan at any one time.
Monday's firefights were part of several battles reported by Canada's Van Doos battle group in the neighbouring Panjwai and Zahri districts during the day, which began about 47 kilometres west of Kandahar City. A Canadian army spokesman confirmed that enemy combatants had died during the exchanges, which involved small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.
"We do not want speculation, so we do not give out numbers," Laroche said ....
- edited 251139EDT Sept 07 to fix formatting -