Military probes report of abducted Cdn. soldiers
Updated Wed. Jun. 7 2006 12:43 PM ET
CTV.ca News
Allied forces in Afghanistan are probing a report that says an unspecified number of Canadian soldiers have been abducted, Canada's Department of National Defence confirmed Wednesday.
Al-Jazeera television earlier quoted unnamed Taliban sources as saying they had abducted some Canadian soldiers.
The military is aware of the al-Jazeera news reports, Department of National Defence spokesperson Jay Paxton told CTV.ca on Wednesday afternoon.
"However the Department of National Defence does not have information that would validate that report," he said.
"Further I can tell you that Task Force Afghanistan is investigating the status of personnel in Afghanistan," he said.
CTV's Steve Chao told Newsnet in a phone interview from Kandahar that the military is currently checking to make sure all soldiers are accounted for.
"They are right now doing a head count among the 2,300 or so soldiers that are stationed here to see whether any are missing, but they don't believe that any are," Chao said.
"They have no evidence to prove what al-Jazeera or the Taliban are claiming at this point."
Chao said Canadian soldiers are currently conducting operations throughout the southern region so it may take some time before it becomes clear whether any of them are missing.
"The reports are very sketchy right now, even as to the claim the Taliban have made that they have abducted Canadian soldiers," he said, adding that the group has been known to release fallacious statements in the past.
"Occasionally we hear from the Taliban large claims such as this or other claims that they've in fact killed coalition soldiers and often times they've turned out to be proven wrong," he said.
Canada currently has 2,300 soldiers in Afghanistan, and recently committed to remaining in the war-torn nation until at least 2009.
Since 2002, 16 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.
Canada's Lt.-Col. Ian Hope told The Canadian Press last weekend that fierce fighting in Afghanistan is only expected to intensify as Canadian and NATO troops attack Taliban strongholds in campaigns throughout Kandahar.
