Kandahar airfield attacked with mortars: CTV

[Scoobie Newbie]

Well if this was a test to see what our reaction was I hope the insurgents were impressed.

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060327/Afghanistan_mortars_060327

Kandahar airfield attacked with mortars: CTV
CTV.ca News Staff

The Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan has come under fire from mortars, a CTV correspondent is reporting.

Ellen Pinchuk said it appears insurgents fired three mortar shells at the airfield. That is where the bulk of the 2,200 Canadian troops are staying.

Preliminary information indicates the attack left no one injured, she said.

The attack occurred around 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

"We were evacuated from our tents. All the soldiers came out in body armour and helmets," she told CTV Newsnet.

"Apache helicopters were scrambled to go check out what was going on. The air raid sirens sounded. After half an hour, we were given the okay to go back to our tents."

The mortar rounds hit the base's northwest corner, Pinchuk said.

"I don't know if they landed within the wire, or outside of the wire. The base is several kilometres long, so there's quite a large chunk of land here."

Pinchuk said there have been unconfirmed reports of mortars a few weeks before that landed but didn't explode.

"As far as we know, these were the first mortars that were heard by all."

The Canadian Press reports that the base last come under attack back in November.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

QRF!!
Heres hoping those yankee choppers or someone else guns down those responsible.
I hate it when the bad guys get away 

good to hear no one was injured.

 

[Franko]

Wow....a mortar attack that finally made the news    :

Whooppeee doo.

Must be a very slow news day.

Listen folks...KAF normally gets hit on average (when I was there) of 3-4 times a week with rocket and mortar fire....most times far enough away not to be a real hazzard.

Mind you we had our fair share of VERY close calls.

Running for the bunkers is a waste of time...there isn't enough for everyone on the camp. (hopefully that has changed, it's been a month since I got back  :  )

Best thing you can do is put on yer helmet and vest and hit the deck.

Regards

 

[jmackenzie_15]

Wow....a mortar attack that finally made the news     :

Whooppeee doo.

Must be a very slow news day.

Listen folks...KAF normally gets hit on average (when I was there) of 3-4 times a week with rocket and mortar fire....most times far enough away not to be a real hazzard.

Mind you we had our fair share of VERY close calls.

Running for the bunkers is a waste of time...there isn't enough for everyone on the camp. (hopefully that has changed, it's been a month since I got back   :   )

Best thing you can do is put on yer helmet and vest and hit the deck.

Regards

See, its comments like this, that I find informative. Ive spoken to and been trained by various guys that have done tours over there but you never really here about what goes on in a normal day. I had no idea attacks were that frequent, or that they even happened at all.

Good to know.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

I'm with Franko... :boring:

It might interest readers to know that there were 41 rocket attacks during the first three months of my ATHENA tour in "peaceful" Kabul - most aimed at NATO facilities.  The "bang - whoosh - bang" sound is pretty hard to hide when on the phone with the girlfriend...

Some countries don't even bother with bunkers, feeling that they're a waste of resources that could be better employed elsewhere.

Cheers,

Teddy

 

[3rd Horseman]

300 to 400 rounds a day.....date line Bosnia summer 95 mount Tacchichi not wanting to get into one up manship ;D Tag your it

Nice to hear no one hurt

 

[Fishbone Jones]

It really doesn't seem to matter who does what, you're always there with the stick in the eye aren't you? :

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

300 to 400 rounds a day.....date line Bosnia summer 95 mount Tacchichi...

In case you missed it, my point is that ATHENA - like other missions - was routinely presented in the media as a "benign" mission with very little threat, yet there were several suicide bombings and a large number of rocket and mortar attacks through the life of the various rotations.

not wanting to get into one up manship Tag your it

As for me, I hardly pretend to be a hardcore combat vet - and have better things to do than defend my personal operational history in the face of an obvious troll attempt. I just find it odd that the media has ignored such things for a very long time (Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Kabul and the rest included), yet a single totally ineffective "attack" now garners headlines on both the CBC and CTV websites.

 

[Korus]

Listen folks...KAF normally gets hit on average (when I was there) of 3-4 times a week with rocket and mortar fire....most times far enough away not to be a real hazzard.

Uhm.. I'm not so sure about that... Where are you getting that number? I don't remember that kind of frequency of attacks on KAF when I was there with Archer 0.
I do remember Coalition guns firing illum at night in support of ops near KAF, plus a few other incidents that people seemed to assume were rocket attacks at the time, but ended up being things like boiler and transformer explosions or IED strikes on highway 4..

 

[Gunner]

In case you missed it, my point is that ATHENA - like other missions - was routinely presented in the media as a "benign" mission with very little threat, yet there were several suicide bombings and a large number of rocket and mortar attacks through the life of the various rotations.

As for me, I hardly pretend to be a hardcore combat vet - and have better things to do than defend my personal operational history in the face of an obvious troll attempt. I just find it odd that the media has ignored such things for a very long time (Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Kabul and the rest included), yet a single totally ineffective "attack" now garners headlines on both the CBC and CTV websites.

Bang on Teddy.  During those first three months, Kabul experienced a rate of rocket attack that had only been experienced pre 9/11.

 

[Franko]

Uhm.. I'm not so sure about that... Where are you getting that number? I don't remember that kind of frequency of attacks on KAF when I was there with Archer 0.
I do remember Coalition guns firing illum at night in support of ops near KAF, plus a few other incidents that people seemed to assume were rocket attacks at the time, but ended up being things like boiler and transformer explosions or IED strikes on highway 4..

Back in August and September that was the average as relayed to me by a few buddies in the QRF....you know the guys who fly out to the launch sites.   

Even just before we left a the end of Feb they were still happening...including an intruder on base.

As for them being boiler and transformer explosions...that's an awful lot for the locals to put up with.

Mind you I did one morning, back late in Feb, witness a huge IED that was control detonated (had no idea at the time) on highway 4 near the bridge....thought for sure
someone bought it.

Regards

 

[vonGarvin]

In case you missed it, my point is that ATHENA - like other missions - was routinely presented in the media as a "benign" mission with very little threat, yet there were several suicide bombings and a large number of rocket and mortar attacks through the life of the various rotations.

Very good point.  I was only there three months (May to Aug 03) and there were 5 KIA and upwards of 40 WIA (most on that one attack on the bus taking Germans to the airport).  Hell, as we were just siting the defensive positions around what was to become JULIEN, we heard the now-familiar "boom" rolling across the city, originating from somewhere in the East.  A billowing cloud of dust and smoke marked the spot where some poor German signaller met his end (mine strike).  That night, some "locals" were preparing a reception for some VIP in the so-called King's Palace when the wrong wires were crossed, and they were vapourised: they thought it was one guy only until a third shoe was found (with foot still in it, of course).

 

[Franko]

That night, some "locals" were preparing a reception for some VIP in the so-called King's Palace when the wrong wires were crossed, and they were vapourised: they thought it was one guy only until a third shoe was found (with foot still in it, of course).

*peacenick mode on*

Are you sure about that....perhapse they were trying to save lives. They are sooooo misunderstood.

/ peacenick mode off


Gotta love instant karma   

Regards

 

[GAP]

Until you experience Mortar fire, it's hard to explain. You feel it in the ground first, and from the thump you get pretty accurate in what area of the base it is going to land. (by the way, you DO hear the one coming in on your position - there's no sound like it) From the whistle you can pinpoint to within about 50-60 feet where it going to land. By that point it's cheek grabbing time.

Rockets suck. All you hear is the final whoosh as they come in, then BANG.

During 68 Tet, we got hundreds per day. They were terrible shots, but the law of averages tends to take over. It sounds like the Tali Ban had the same mortar trainers. Let's hope they keep up their training expertise....

 

[silentbutdeadly]

i was having a nice dream too!  > but yeah it was freakin loud! thought the rounds were alot closer then were they actually landed ( old russian mine field)

 

[vonGarvin]

They were terrible shots, but the law of averages tends to take over.

So true.  What goes up must come down.  In the end, they land back on Earth.  And, as long as you are on Earth, you stand a chance of getting hit

 

[ArmyRick]

Being a mortarman myself, yikes. I have seen what they can do. God bless and protect our brothers in A-stan.

 

[Korus]

I think maybe the QRF guys were exaggerating to you, then. I can only specifically remember two attacks in the Sept/Aug.. Might have been a couple more that I didn't hear or forgot about, but defiantly not 3-4 a week.

I remember the intruders, though.. That was amusing, if somewhat unsettling..

Edited because grammar good I don't.