This is from the news today.
Three Canadian soldiers wounded in Afghanistan
CTV.ca News Staff
Three Canadian special forces soldiers have been wounded on operations in Afghanistan, the Defence Department reported on Wednesday.
The department says one Joint Task Force 2 soldier is being treated in hospital while the other two have been treated for their injuries and have returned to their unit. The department has not identified the soldiers.
"Normally the word 'wounded' is used when (the injuries are) as a result of hostile action," former soldier Scott Taylor, the editor-in-chief of Esprit de Corps magazine, told CTV Newsnet.
"In this case it could have been one of those improvised explosive devices, it could have been a roadside bomb, or it could, in fact, have been that they were involved in a fire-fight," he said.
It's unclear when the soldiers were wounded.
"The fact that we are getting told that two of the wounded personnel have been returned to duty would imply that it didn't just happen hours ago," Taylor said.
Meanwhile, the Defence Department remained tightlipped on any details involving the wounded soldier.
"For reasons of operational security and for the safety of those Canadian Special Operations Forces members and their families, no other information on this incident or on the special operations being conducted in Afghanistan will be released," the department says in its release.
Meanwhile, there is speculation the soldiers were taking part in operations in which 22 suspected militants were killed in two clashes with Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces this week.
Last Sunday, a Canadian soldier suffered relatively minor injuries in Afghanistan after a coalition convoy was attacked as it passed through the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.
Ottawa is in the process of shifting its military presence from the capital Kabul to the more volatile southern region of Kandahar, which is considered the heartland of the Taliban.
By February 2006, about 2,000 Canadian soldiers will be based in Kandahar and a Canadian general will take command of a multi-national force to fight insurgents.
In total, some 20,000 coalition troops are fighting Taliban and al Qaeda-linked insurgents in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
The highly secretive JTF2 has been in Afghanistan almost continuously since early 2002.
"The overarching goal is to help the Afghan people achieve peace by preventing their nation from relapsing into a failed state that gives terrorist and terrorist organizations a safe haven," the Defence Department said.
"There are significant risks involved in these missions, but CF members are fully prepared because they are well equipped, well led, and among the best trained and most experienced soldiers in the world."
Increased violence has killed nearly 1,500 people this year alone -- the bloodiest death toll since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in 2001.
Source
http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/A...anistan_051207