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Topic: Canadians in firefight (Read 367 times)
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Jesse Reed
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Several militants killed as NATO chief talks up Afghan mission's 'collective effort'
THE CANADIAN PRESS
KANDAHAR -- Canadian troops and Afghan soldiers killed several Taliban fighters in a gunbattle yesterday in a small village south of Kandahar that was once the home of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the Canadian military said. There were no Canadian or Afghan army casualties.
A joint patrol by the 2nd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment battle group and the Afghan National Army fought with 10 to 15 Taliban in the village of Hawz-e Madad, 30 km outside the city, in an area that is a known hotbed for extremists. The village has been the scene of several firefights since Canadians were deployed almost a year ago.
Maj. Dale MacEachern, an army spokesman, said several militants were killed, but he didn't have precise numbers.
Canadian troops have been dug in at fortified positions east of the Hawz-e Madad area for weeks, since the conclusion of NATO's last offensive.
In Kandahar, meanwhile, NATO's secretary general gently urged Canada to stay the course in Afghanistan while trying to assure Canadians they are not bearing the burden alone.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer challenged the notion that only a few alliance countries are doing the bulk of the fighting while other NATO members -- principally Europeans -- stick to reconstruction operations in quiet sectors.
I think that's a wrong impression," he said after a quick meeting with NATO's commander in southern Afghanistan, Dutch Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon.
It is a collective effort," de Hoop Scheffer said. "It is not the Canadians by themselves or the Dutch, the Danes or the Brits and the Americans."
Other countries patrolling relatively safe areas outside the volatile southern region also face the threat of roadside bombs, and support combat operations, he said.
Help came yesterday when British Defence Minister Des Browne confirmed Britain is bolstering its force with a further 1,000 soldiers, bringing its total commitment to more than 6,000.
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Jesse Reed
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Jesse Reed
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Posts: 177
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Monday, July 28, 2008 | 8:44 PM CBC News
The private funeral for Cpl. James Arnal, killed July 18 while serving in Afghanistan, took place Monday afternoon at Winnipeg's Grant Memorial Baptist Church, followed by a procession through city streets to allow the public to pay their respects.
Several hundred people gathered at the church to remember the 25-year-old soldier, who was killed by a roadside bomb while on a foot patrol near the city of Kandahar.
Arnal's brother remembered Jim, as he was known, as a kid who loved video games, his dogs and hockey. Arnal's aunt read messages of condolence from as far away as Romania, many of them from fellow soldiers, some from other families who have lost sons, brothers and husbands in Afghanista
Arnal, who was born in Saskatchewan but grew up in Winnipeg, was on his second tour of duty when he died and had already signed up for a third. The 88th Canadian soldier to die as part of the Afghan mission, he was a member of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and was stationed at Canadian Forces Base Shilo in Manitoba.
Soldiers carried the flag-draped coffin to a hearse for the funeral procession, which started at Grant Memorial Baptist Church and passed along Wilkes Avenue, Portage Avenue, Main Street, Water Avenue and Provencher Boulevard before ending at the Desjardins funeral home on Des Meurons Street.
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Jesse Reed
reedj@rogers.com
1-866-808-9066
(Toll free North America)
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