Canadian combat team herds huge coalition convoy through southern Afghanistan
Friday » April 6 » 2007 John Cotter Canadian Press Friday, April 06, 2007
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SANGIN, Afghanistan (CP) - Like an alert sheepdog with its fangs bared, a Canadian combat team herded a huge column of coalition vehicles through Taliban country Friday.
A line of trucks and Humvees stretching back kilometres slowly rumbled through Helmand province, their headlights vainly trying to stab through thick clouds of dust in the pre-dawn light.
The convoy of Afghan and American troops and tonnes of supplies is heading to the Sangin Valley - where coalition forces and insurgents are fighting it out.
It is the job of the Gagetown, N.B.-based Royal Canadian Regiment battle group to help get them there safely.
"Every time we move, it is a combat operation," said Maj. Alex Ruff, who commands the team of tanks, armoured infantry and mine-clearing vehicles.
"The potential always exists. That's why we are here."
The main body of the convoy is an Afghan National Army infantry battalion, its troops jammed into the back of unarmoured Ford Ranger pick-ups, some flying big red, black and green national flags.
There are also vulnerable fuel and munitions trucks and tractor-trailers carrying heavy construction gear that roll overland across the desert and through fields blooming thick with purple and scarlet opium poppies.
The column stretches out and compresses like an accordion, starting and stopping, rarely going faster than 30 kilometres an hour.
The Canadian combat team watches over the trucks, dashing ahead to ridge lines, the turrets of the Leopard tanks and LAV-3 armoured vehicles traversing right and left searching for threats.
Other Canadian vehicles nip at the tail of the column, keeping it closed up and ensuring there are no stragglers.
Ruff, from Tara, Ont., said his biggest concerns are landmines and roadside bombs, but his troops - who have been living out in the desert for a solid month - are ready for anything.
"The ground creates choke-points at certain locations and the Taliban will try to get out ahead of us and mine it," he said.
As the hours roll by, radios inside vehicles crackle with reports of the vanguard of the column detecting two such mines before they explode.
The push into Helmand from Kandahar province is a first for the Canadian battle group as NATO's International Security Assistance Force ups the pressure on Taliban in the opium poppy-rich province.
ISAF launched Operation Achilles on March 6 to drive the Taliban out of northern Helmand
More on link
Friday » April 6 » 2007 John Cotter Canadian Press Friday, April 06, 2007
Article Link
SANGIN, Afghanistan (CP) - Like an alert sheepdog with its fangs bared, a Canadian combat team herded a huge column of coalition vehicles through Taliban country Friday.
A line of trucks and Humvees stretching back kilometres slowly rumbled through Helmand province, their headlights vainly trying to stab through thick clouds of dust in the pre-dawn light.
The convoy of Afghan and American troops and tonnes of supplies is heading to the Sangin Valley - where coalition forces and insurgents are fighting it out.
It is the job of the Gagetown, N.B.-based Royal Canadian Regiment battle group to help get them there safely.
"Every time we move, it is a combat operation," said Maj. Alex Ruff, who commands the team of tanks, armoured infantry and mine-clearing vehicles.
"The potential always exists. That's why we are here."
The main body of the convoy is an Afghan National Army infantry battalion, its troops jammed into the back of unarmoured Ford Ranger pick-ups, some flying big red, black and green national flags.
There are also vulnerable fuel and munitions trucks and tractor-trailers carrying heavy construction gear that roll overland across the desert and through fields blooming thick with purple and scarlet opium poppies.
The column stretches out and compresses like an accordion, starting and stopping, rarely going faster than 30 kilometres an hour.
The Canadian combat team watches over the trucks, dashing ahead to ridge lines, the turrets of the Leopard tanks and LAV-3 armoured vehicles traversing right and left searching for threats.
Other Canadian vehicles nip at the tail of the column, keeping it closed up and ensuring there are no stragglers.
Ruff, from Tara, Ont., said his biggest concerns are landmines and roadside bombs, but his troops - who have been living out in the desert for a solid month - are ready for anything.
"The ground creates choke-points at certain locations and the Taliban will try to get out ahead of us and mine it," he said.
As the hours roll by, radios inside vehicles crackle with reports of the vanguard of the column detecting two such mines before they explode.
The push into Helmand from Kandahar province is a first for the Canadian battle group as NATO's International Security Assistance Force ups the pressure on Taliban in the opium poppy-rich province.
ISAF launched Operation Achilles on March 6 to drive the Taliban out of northern Helmand
More on link
