Five Canadians injured in Rocket Attack - May 29
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Five Cdns. injured in rocket attack in Afghanistan
Updated Mon. May. 29 2006 8:04 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Five Canadian soldiers were wounded when a rocket hit their armoured vehicle during an ambush by Taliban insurgents early Monday morning.
The soldiers received non-life-threatening injuries, said Maj. Mario Couture. He said two of them are already back at work and two others were expected be back on duty soon.
The fifth soldier was sent to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhle, Germany.
The troops, comprised primarily of the Edmonton-based First Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery from Shilo, Man., were in a firefight with Taliban in Afghanistan's Panjwai area.
That's where hundreds of Canadians troops have been involved in fierce fighting off-and-on for two weeks.
The firefight erupted as the patrol was returning from a village in the Zhari area, which is adjacent to the Panjwai district.
The soldiers were driving in a LAV III at about 1:30 a.m. local time at the end of their patrol, about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar, when Taliban insurgents fired at them using AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
"I heard small arms first, then seconds after that -- not even -- an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) hit,'' Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, who was inside the LAV-III, told The Canadian Press.
"I ducked down, the RPGs kept coming and I saw a big flash inside the vehicle. That's when I felt the side of my face tore up and my shoulder and that's when we went down."
Despite their injuries, the patrol continued on in their still-functioning vehicle.
"We kept going, then stopped and patched each other up," said Ingram.
Couture said at least one and up to six Taliban were killed in the engagement.
Canadian soldiers have been involved in a series of skirmishes over the past two weeks with large concentrations of Taliban fighters, in what has become known as the Battle of Panjwai.
CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer recently spent four days embedded with the troops.
"Canadian soldiers have been engaged in a style of combat that they haven't seen since the Korean war," she told Canada AM Monday.
"They're going into these villages, and they're actually hunting down these suspected Taliban militants. They meet with the elders, they try and gather as much information as they can. What has been dogging the process are these ambushes that are well coordinated," she added.
"There will be an ambush or an IED, or improvised explosive device, planted just a short distance up the road. So Canadian military officials are acknowledging that the Taliban is putting up a stiff resistance, but then again, so are the Canadians."
At least 130 insurgents have been killed, captured and wounded since the battle began in earnest in mid-May.
Canadian soldiers have also suffered casualties, including Capt. Nichola Goddard, who was killed by shrapnel on May 17 when the LAV III in which she was riding was hit by several rocket-propelled grenades.
An Afghan interpreter was also badly wounded Thursday in another ambush in the Panjwai-district village of Banzya. An officer from the Afghan National Army was also killed in the fighting. [/flash]
Five Cdns. injured in rocket attack in Afghanistan
Updated Mon. May. 29 2006 8:04 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Five Canadian soldiers were wounded when a rocket hit their armoured vehicle during an ambush by Taliban insurgents early Monday morning.
The soldiers received non-life-threatening injuries, said Maj. Mario Couture. He said two of them are already back at work and two others were expected be back on duty soon.
The fifth soldier was sent to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhle, Germany.
The troops, comprised primarily of the Edmonton-based First Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery from Shilo, Man., were in a firefight with Taliban in Afghanistan's Panjwai area.
That's where hundreds of Canadians troops have been involved in fierce fighting off-and-on for two weeks.
The firefight erupted as the patrol was returning from a village in the Zhari area, which is adjacent to the Panjwai district.
The soldiers were driving in a LAV III at about 1:30 a.m. local time at the end of their patrol, about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar, when Taliban insurgents fired at them using AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
"I heard small arms first, then seconds after that -- not even -- an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) hit,'' Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, who was inside the LAV-III, told The Canadian Press.
"I ducked down, the RPGs kept coming and I saw a big flash inside the vehicle. That's when I felt the side of my face tore up and my shoulder and that's when we went down."
Despite their injuries, the patrol continued on in their still-functioning vehicle.
"We kept going, then stopped and patched each other up," said Ingram.
Couture said at least one and up to six Taliban were killed in the engagement.
Canadian soldiers have been involved in a series of skirmishes over the past two weeks with large concentrations of Taliban fighters, in what has become known as the Battle of Panjwai.
CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer recently spent four days embedded with the troops.
"Canadian soldiers have been engaged in a style of combat that they haven't seen since the Korean war," she told Canada AM Monday.
"They're going into these villages, and they're actually hunting down these suspected Taliban militants. They meet with the elders, they try and gather as much information as they can. What has been dogging the process are these ambushes that are well coordinated," she added.
"There will be an ambush or an IED, or improvised explosive device, planted just a short distance up the road. So Canadian military officials are acknowledging that the Taliban is putting up a stiff resistance, but then again, so are the Canadians."
At least 130 insurgents have been killed, captured and wounded since the battle began in earnest in mid-May.
Canadian soldiers have also suffered casualties, including Capt. Nichola Goddard, who was killed by shrapnel on May 17 when the LAV III in which she was riding was hit by several rocket-propelled grenades.
An Afghan interpreter was also badly wounded Thursday in another ambush in the Panjwai-district village of Banzya. An officer from the Afghan National Army was also killed in the fighting. [/flash]
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17thRecceSgt
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Quick recoveries to all 5 of the troops, especially the one Medevac'd to Landstuhle. 
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Get well soon, and Thank you for the hard work you troops are doing.
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