# Rocket fired at Canadian embassy residence in Afghan capital - Guard hurt



## JasonH (12 Oct 2005)

> AFX News Limited
> Rocket fired at Canadian embassy residence in Afghan capital
> 10.12.2005, 01:24 AM
> 
> ...


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## Franko (12 Oct 2005)

...and we had one drop short of the camp at 0220 as well.

Nothing mentioned at all.    :

I love the Canadian press.

Regards


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## childs56 (12 Oct 2005)

Yet the embassy guards are not receiving tax free pay for being in a war zone. Hmm fun fun fun.


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## JasonH (12 Oct 2005)

That's what happens when you goto war with policies ment for a conflict involving modern militiaries who would seemingly would not carry out guerilla attacks.

All apart of the wars of today, much of the cold war thinking needs to be abolished.  Everyones at risk now, even the fella's worken in the offices there.

But than again, with the way this government takes and spends money I doubt seeing it change anytime soon.  People would bitch full-scale about no tax-free infantry fighting but when it's pencil pushing while there no one cares.  People need to open their eyes.  Neways thats my rant.  We're all in this together be it front line or back of the pack.

-Jason


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## Pte_Martin (12 Oct 2005)

Franko said:
			
		

> ...and we had one drop short of the camp at 0220 as well.
> 
> Nothing mentioned at all.      :
> 
> ...




I dislike all canadian press usually they don't say anything about our soldiers overseas unless it's a death or near death, so in a way no news is good news.

Thanks for keeping us to date Franko... I know  I'm  looking forward to hear what's going on in Afghanistan


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## Mortar guy (13 Oct 2005)

I am currently in Kabul right now and live about 200m from the ambassador's residence. I was woken up that morning by the impact (as was everyone else in the house) and before I knew what I was doing I had rolled out of bed and had readied my C8 - goes to show you that training works! Of course there was nothing to shoot at so after making sure everyone was OK, I went back to bed. Good times all round!

The one thing I wanted to say about the news reports is that they sensationalized the attack to make it seem like the Amb's Residence was the target. Now, maybe it is possible that they were aiming for the Residence and that they have vastly improved their aim. However, I would say the headline should have read "Rocket Misses Whatever the Hell it was Aimed At" rather than "Canadian Embassy Attacked" etc. Anyway, just my $0.02

MG


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## Sig_Des (13 Oct 2005)

CPL said:
			
		

> I dislike all canadian press usually they don't say anything about our soldiers overseas unless it's a death or near death, so in a way no news is good news.



I love how almost every article about the troops in Afghanistan ends with the new standard line "there are also troops hunting and killing Taliban"


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## MOOO! (13 Oct 2005)

The media hasn't been a good source of info for most of the conflicts and areas that Canadians are in.  Glad to see though that we do get info from this forum on top of what the media gives out so we can sift through the crap.  

They are just keeping you on your toes MG.

Keep frosty.


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## Big Red (13 Oct 2005)

]

Which company do the static guards work for at the embassy in Kabul? The guy above looks to be a local national.


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## paracowboy (13 Oct 2005)

Red, 





> The guy above looks to be a local national.


 I don't see anybody in that picture who resembles any of the ethnicities found around Kabul. If you're referring to the old dude with the AK, he looks plenty white to me.


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## MikeM (13 Oct 2005)

Not to mention the Canadian Flag on his vest.


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## MikeM (13 Oct 2005)

Could also be RCMP.


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## paracowboy (13 Oct 2005)

2332Piper said:
			
		

> Out of curiosity, is he a member of the MP unit guarding the embassy or does he belong to some other org (a private company contracted to secure the embassy etc)?
> 
> I ask because the last pics on this site we had of embassy security guys was of two of them in civvies with 'accessorised' C8's, and this guy has a plaine jane AK 47 (something I'm sure is not CF or Department of Foreign Affairs issued, I could be wrong).


dunno. Blow the picture up enough to read the patch on his sleeve or the pass around his neck. Who knows, maybe his hat has his unit/company logo on it?


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## NavComm (13 Oct 2005)

Here is the caption that comes with the photo, maybe that will help

    
Image #55900016  

Title: An Afghan security officer (2-R) and Ita 
Subject: News, Politics, Elections  

Caption:
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan security officer (2-R) and Italain soldiers of the International Security Asisstance Force (ISAF) stand guard outside the Canadian embassy following a rocket attack in Kabul, 12 October 2005. A rocket was fired at the Canadian embassy residence in the Afghan capital, wounding a guard and damaging a wall outside the property, witnesses said. The rocket was fired at about 4:10 am, a few hours before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due in the city for a short visit. AFP PHOTO / SHAH Marai (Photo credit should read SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)


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## paracowboy (13 Oct 2005)

huh, well I blew the photo up as much as I could and the dude *still* looks caucasian to me. Even the way he's holding his weapon and the way he's wearing his kit, the way he's standing, don't remind me of anything I've ever seen an Afghani do. 
But, I been wrong before.


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## NavComm (13 Oct 2005)

He's wearing the same crest on his sleeve as other soldiers identified as Afghani in some other pictures on the getty site. Maybe he's just hung over?


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## paracowboy (13 Oct 2005)

NavComm said:
			
		

> Maybe he's just hung over?


maybe I am, and don't realize it? Funny that Afghanis, especially one as old this guy, would emulate western soldiers to the extent of wearing a ball cap, and placing sunglasses on the brim like that. Most of the older Afghans, the vets against the Russians and from the civil war, I met over there found our "cool guy" poses and such to be silly at best.


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## MikeM (13 Oct 2005)

He's wearing a Canadian Flag... doesn't look to be too much of a local thing to do IMHO.


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## KevinB (14 Oct 2005)

I'm pretty sure he's causcasian.

 If I had to guess he is a 50'ish ex Brit medic - who now lives in Edmonton (when he is not contracting)

________

Other issue - who the f do we think we are.  Those rockets are NOT accurate - and if they where they would have aimed for a worthwhile target -- 

My god we as Canadians are really full of our own importance are we not


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## Acorn (14 Oct 2005)

Local Embassy guards at other Cdn embassies are usually given some items of kit that ID them as Cdn employees. I think it was in Beirut that they had guys equipped almost identically to the guy in the photo (vest, ball cap, shades, cdn flag, except with MP5 in place of the AK).

Yeah, he looks caucasian, but urban Afghanis can vary widely in appearance, can't they?

And I agree with Kevin about the rocket.

Acorn


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## Korus (14 Oct 2005)

> He's wearing a Canadian Flag... doesn't look to be too much of a local thing to do IMHO.



Could just mean he's protecting a Canadian isntallation. I've seen the Afghan Security Forces personnel around here wearing vests and flags that look suspiciously similar whilst on gate guard.

As for rocket attacks.. It's annoying when they space them out, so just as you're beginning to fall asleep.. *BANG* another one hits. And I echo KevinB in that they are not accurate at all.

Bah, Acorn beet me to it..


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## Big Red (14 Oct 2005)

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.


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## George Wallace (14 Oct 2005)

~RoKo~ said:
			
		

> As for rocket attacks.. It's annoying when they space them out, so just as you're beginning to fall asleep.. *BANG* another one hits. And I echo KevinB in that they are not accurate at all.


That is called "Pychological Warfare"





			
				~RoKo~ said:
			
		

> Bah, Acorn beet me to it..


 Are you beet red or Acorn?


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## paracowboy (14 Oct 2005)

Acorn said:
			
		

> Yeah, he looks caucasian, but urban Afghanis can vary widely in appearance, can't they?


yeah, but I never saw one *that* old look* that * white. And Kev pretty much answered it.


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## DG-41 (14 Oct 2005)

Any idea as to the model/size of the rockets being fired?

Are we talking RPG here, or something bigger?

DG


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## George Wallace (14 Oct 2005)

There are a lot of BM-21 rockets out there.  Fired from improvised launchers.  There are a few videos on line that show them in action.  Very scary.  You will also see why they are not very accurate, if you find one of those videos.  Rockets propped up in trees, remotely fired are not too accurate.


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## Mortar guy (14 Oct 2005)

I can assure you that the guy in the picture with the ball cap is Afghan. More specifically he is Tajik - they tend to look more caucasian than the Pashtuns, Hazara, Uzbeks etc. He works for a company called SSI, a private security firm that does 'outer cordon' security on the embassy and other Canadian residences in the Wazir Akhbar Khan district. These guys protect my house too and I can say that they are very checked out. They always have their weapons at the ready and are very vigilant (second only to the Gurkhas who guard the US Embassy). Most of them are former soldiers and all of them receive decent training before working for the company (SSI is the name of the company - reference the ball cap). They wear Canadian flags becuase they are gaurding a Canadian installation - pointe final. If anyone has anymore questions, you can PM me and I'll try to answer.

Pro Patria.

MG


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## paracowboy (14 Oct 2005)

like I said, I been wrong before.


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## DG-41 (14 Oct 2005)

Yowsa!

That BM-21 is no dinky little rocket; it's a 122mm with a 20k range (when fired from the proper launcher)

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/bm-21.htm

I haven't found anythin on the CEP for it, but supposedly it is pretty big, which I assume to be ~700m or so. So you might hit the right grid square.

Even so... that'd leave a hell of a mark.

DG


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## Korus (14 Oct 2005)

> Are you beet red or Acorn?


I  guess that would be me and my lack of spell-checking/grammer


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## George Wallace (14 Oct 2005)

DG-41 said:
			
		

> I haven't found anythin on the CEP for it, but supposedly it is pretty big, which I assume to be ~700m or so. So you might hit the right grid square.
> 
> Even so... that'd leave a heck of a mark.
> 
> DG


Whoa Nelly.....A BM-21 Bty will level a grid square quite easily, but one single 122mm rocket won't do much (Not a Grid Sq) in that sense.  Remember, a BM-21 has 40 of these rockets in each 'pack'.


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## DG-41 (14 Oct 2005)

Yeah, but it should be more or less equivelent to a 122mm arty shell in terms of explosive payload. That's a hell of a bang.

I wan't claiming that a single rocket would flatten a grid square George. 

DG


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## buzgo (14 Oct 2005)

I can't remember the calibre of the rocket that hit Camp Warehouse in 2003, whether it was 107 or 122... It made a big BANG but I was surprised at the small amout of damage it did. It hit a sea container and it seemed like it was the physical force of the rocket itself hitting the metal can that caused the damage. There didn't seem to be a big explosion of any kind. This happened right next to a tent with people in it and only one guy (a Weatherhaven contractor) got slightly injured.


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## KevinB (15 Oct 2005)

Rockets have fuel as part of the payload - as it burn off there goes the payload... Arty shells are 100% payload.

 MG - quite willing to accept that - the guy looks like a spitting image of someone I've done a course with.
   not sure I'd call the guards checked out though.

Part of the issue with accuray is your local jihadist that uses a rocket aint all that bright and the it goes thataway system of aiming.  IF they had a real launcher and knowledge of how to emplot it - we would have a serious bad dad - but hadji would be dead within a few seconds if he had a fixed firing platform...  I guess they split the differecne that living was better than hitting anyone they intended on.


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## Mortar guy (15 Oct 2005)

KevinB said:
			
		

> not sure I'd call the guards checked out though.



I'd love to know what you're basing this assessment on. Have you seen these guys before? Granted they are not up to Canadian Infantry standards but compared to the other private security guards I have seen around town (and the ANA and ANP), they are checked out. I also can't imagine why any former western serviceman would want to work for SSI as they pay their guards about $8 a day - a decent wage for Afghanistan but hardly worth coming here for if you are a former British Medic! There are lots of Blackwater and DynCorp jobs that pay 100 times that amount for former western soldiers.

As for the rocket, it was most likely a Russian Katyusha or Chinese Type 63 107mm rocket (rocket of choice around here). As a number of people have stated, they are not really aimed and in a lot of cases are just leaned up against a pile of rocks or some other crude launch platform that points them in the general direction of their target. They are remotely launched or are launched on timers so the firers don't get caught or CB'd.

MG

P.S. Everything I am writing here is OSINT and not classified. As for the type of rocket, that is only my educated guess after having seen the crater.


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## Slim (15 Oct 2005)

Blackwater and Dyncorp do not hire Canadians...Unless that has changed rrecently.

But as of earlier this year they were hiring US only...And in the case of Blackwater it was SF or marine FR folks with time in the weeds only.

Please feel free to add info if mine is either outdated or inaccurate. This is from first hand sourses but its been awhile since I tried to get 'over there.'

Cheers

Slim


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## Big Red (15 Oct 2005)

Slim said:
			
		

> Blackwater and Dyncorp do not hire Canadians...Unless that has changed rrecently.
> 
> But as of earlier this year they were hiring US only...And in the case of Blackwater it was SF or marine FR folks with time in the weeds only.
> 
> ...



Both companies have non-Americans working for them to include a few Canadians.   Most BW guys are not SF or Force. BW is not considered 'special' by anyone but themselves. They have everyone from the bodyguard with no mil/LE, to the po-dunk Sheriff, to the Tier One operator and everything in between.   The vast majority are great guys, but a few are misguided as to what thier mission is.


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## Slim (15 Oct 2005)

Big Red said:
			
		

> Both companies have non-Americans working for them to include a few Canadians.   Most BW guys are not SF or Force. They have everyone from the bodyguard with no mil/LE, to the po-dunk Sheriff, to the Tier One operator, just like most companies.



OK...Sounds like I had some bad info.

I tried to get on with DynCorp and after uite a run-around I got back that they donnot hire non-us people?!

Same with BW.

Thanks for the update.

Cheers

Slim


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## Big Red (15 Oct 2005)

Dyncorp has a non-US recruiter that I believe is based out of England. They also have a recruiter in New Zealand. I think they have quite a backlog of non-Americans right now on their books.

You are right, many of the contracts that the big coys like BW, Dyn, 3C have are restricted to US citizens only.  But they sometimes have other gigs that don't have these restrictions.


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