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‘Deliberate tampering‘ shuts down showers, laundry at Kabul Canadian base
02:48 PM EDT Apr 07
STEPHEN THORNE
© The Canadian Press, 2004
KABUL (CP) - Canadian soldiers based in the southwest corner of Afghanistan‘s capital city have been without showers for three days because somebody tampered with the water system, says the head of the Canadian contingent.
Camp Julien‘s purification system, which handles water from one of three wells on the site, was tampered with likely early Monday morning, Col. Alain Tremblay said Wednesday. A police investigation began almost immediately.
"It‘s very, very unlikely that this was an accident," Tremblay said in an interview, but he added that he did not believe the incident was an act of malicious sabotage.
"This was more probably fool‘s play than anything else," he said. "I would not use the word ‘sabotage.‘ I think it‘s a very bad joke."
Civilian employees found a milky substance on top of the water when they conducted their daily check at 8:30 a.m., after most people in the camp had showered and brushed their teeth.
E-mails were dispatched and an announcement was made over the camp‘s public address system ordering the 1,700 soldiers and civilians to stop using the water.
No one had reported sick due to the incident, officials said. Tests conducted by medical staff on the base later confirmed the material was non-toxic - likely soap, said the colonel.
Tremblay said the system was purged and well water tested, but showers and laundry remained off-limits Wednesday evening.
He said the system could have been back up and running much earlier but officials wanted to be sure about what they were up against before giving campers the green light.
Authorities didn‘t yet know why the system was tampered with, or who did it, but Tremblay said it was "unlikely a deliberate incursion into our perimeter."
Camp Julien is the main base for Canadian troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul; a few hundred more Canadians are accommodated at another NATO base in Kabul.
Canadian soldiers and civilians at Camp Julien drink bottled water imported from the Persian Gulf, but there are plans to start bottling their own water.
Tremblay said the camp would maintain a backup supply of bottled product in case problems arise again.
A rainstorm rolled into Kabul Wednesday night and anyone at the base who wanted to get drenched needed only to go outside their tents.
02:48 PM EDT Apr 07
STEPHEN THORNE
© The Canadian Press, 2004
KABUL (CP) - Canadian soldiers based in the southwest corner of Afghanistan‘s capital city have been without showers for three days because somebody tampered with the water system, says the head of the Canadian contingent.
Camp Julien‘s purification system, which handles water from one of three wells on the site, was tampered with likely early Monday morning, Col. Alain Tremblay said Wednesday. A police investigation began almost immediately.
"It‘s very, very unlikely that this was an accident," Tremblay said in an interview, but he added that he did not believe the incident was an act of malicious sabotage.
"This was more probably fool‘s play than anything else," he said. "I would not use the word ‘sabotage.‘ I think it‘s a very bad joke."
Civilian employees found a milky substance on top of the water when they conducted their daily check at 8:30 a.m., after most people in the camp had showered and brushed their teeth.
E-mails were dispatched and an announcement was made over the camp‘s public address system ordering the 1,700 soldiers and civilians to stop using the water.
No one had reported sick due to the incident, officials said. Tests conducted by medical staff on the base later confirmed the material was non-toxic - likely soap, said the colonel.
Tremblay said the system was purged and well water tested, but showers and laundry remained off-limits Wednesday evening.
He said the system could have been back up and running much earlier but officials wanted to be sure about what they were up against before giving campers the green light.
Authorities didn‘t yet know why the system was tampered with, or who did it, but Tremblay said it was "unlikely a deliberate incursion into our perimeter."
Camp Julien is the main base for Canadian troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul; a few hundred more Canadians are accommodated at another NATO base in Kabul.
Canadian soldiers and civilians at Camp Julien drink bottled water imported from the Persian Gulf, but there are plans to start bottling their own water.
Tremblay said the camp would maintain a backup supply of bottled product in case problems arise again.
A rainstorm rolled into Kabul Wednesday night and anyone at the base who wanted to get drenched needed only to go outside their tents.
