12-04-07, 02:49
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It's been mentioned that the two soldiers who lost their lives are based from Petewawa. Names still not released as yet until after families are notified.
Quote:
Roadside bomb kills 2 soldiers in Afghanistan
Updated Wed. Apr. 11 2007 8:13 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The Canadian military confirms that two Canadians have been killed and three more injured in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.
"Two Canadian soldiers were killed and two others were injured, one seriously, when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Afghanistan," Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan, told reporters in Kandahar early Thursday.
"This incident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Kandahar time approximately 38 kilometres west of Kandahar City. A third soldier received injuries earlier in an unrelated IED strike."
Names of the dead are being withheld pending notification of families, he said.
One of the injured soldiers is in hospital in stable condition. The other two suffered minor injuries.
At CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick, Lt.-Col. Paul Kearney said Wednesday that the military unit of the two dead soldiers is from CFB Petawawa in Ontario. Cessford didn't offer any information on the soldiers' home base.
Where they happened
The two incidents occurred in the same general area, about 800 metres to one kilometre apart, he said.
The first incident injured the soldier. The second incident two hours later left two soldiers dead.
While explosives crews were dispatched to search for more possible bombs, it isn't known yet clear how big an area they managed to clear.
"There was a significant separation between the two incidents," Cessford said. "These were two separate vehicles from two separate areas that were in roughly the same area."
There is a cluster of villages about 38 kilometres west of Kandahar called Sangisar.
Canadian military officials have claimed victory in that area over the Taliban.
"You can never guarantee perfect stability in these areas; there's always a chance people can get back and lay IEDs. That is the nature of the fight that we are in," he said.
"The fact of the matter is that 6,000 families ... have moved into the area, farming is underway, there are communities that are bustling, schools that are opening, clinics that are functioning."
Earlier Wednesday, a suicide bombing attack on a Canadian convoy west of Kandahar City injured 10 Afghan civilians but no Canadian soldiers. There was minor damage to a Canadian Forces tanker truck in that incident.
That made three attacks on Canadian troops in one day.
"Everybody had been saying when the summer began in Afghanistan that it would be another bloody summer like it was last year," Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief, told Newsnet.
Cessford said that he doesn't think this is the beginning of a spring offensive by the Taliban.
"We have had multiple IED strikes before," he said. "The spring offensive, if you're listening to what the Taliban are saying, they're talking of hundreds and multiple attacks. These are two separate incidents, widely dispersed.
"It is a spike in casualties ... but I am not convinced we are seeing a Taliban spring offensive."
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