Articles found May 22, 2013
Hundreds of Canadian military supplies stuck in Afghanistan
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Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press Sunday, May 19, 2013
OTTAWA - A team of 15 Canadian soldiers has been dispatched to Kandahar on a month-long assignment to assess whether dozens of military containers are still seaworthy enough to be brought home.
Over 375 shipping containers full of military supplies remain stranded at Kandahar Airfield nearly 18 months after Canada's withdrawal from the war-torn province, and almost two years since combat operations ceased.
National Defence says the material is considered low priority and that all high-value and sensitive equipment has been returned to Canada.
A spokeswoman for the country's operational command, Capt. Jennifer Stadnyk, said certification of as many as 150 of the containers has expired and the technical assistance team will have to access whether they can still meet the standards set out by international shipping companies.
Defence sources said if the containers don't pass, the military will have to find a way to dispose of the material.
The seemingly endless delay in repatriation of the containers, which were supposed to travel overland, was brought on by the extended closure of the Afghan border with Pakistan.
It has turned into a long, costly logistics nightmare for the military, which had intended to have everything home to fully re-equip and refurbish the army.
The equipment includes tires, spare parts, tents and other gear, and officials say their absence does not directly impede the army's regeneration.
Last fall documents obtained by The Canadian Press under access-to-information legislation showed the Canadian government has faced increased withdrawal costs because the containers still have to be stored and guarded.
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Afghan interpreter’s family killed by Taliban near Kandahar
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By: Hamida Ghafour Foreign Affairs reporter, Bismillah Khushal in Kandahar, Published on Tue May 21 2013
Sayed Shah Sharifi fought to come to Canada, saying the Taliban threatened to kill him and his family because he was an interpreter for Canadian forces. This month, five of his relatives were killed by a roadside bomb. Three were children.
When Sayed Shah Sharifi’s family heard that distant relatives had been killed in a roadside bomb attack, they decided to pay their condolences to the survivors. On the morning of May 13, seven of them set off from Kandahar for their ancestral village of Maruf, a remote and violent district about 100 kilometres away.
But sometimes in Afghanistan, tragedy begets tragedy. As they reached an area local residents call “horror valley,” their 4x4 vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Five were killed. Two were injured.
The improvised bomb was set up by the Taliban to punish Sharifi for once working as a combat interpreter for the Canadian military in Kandahar.
Sharifi is safe in Canada. Instead the militants took their revenge on his beloved sister, on his brother’s wife, and on his niece and two nephews, aged between 8 months and 4 years. His nephew Sharif Khan, 5, was badly hurt.
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Afghan Army engineers quickly learn construction skills, finish tactical operations center unassisted
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NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — In early April, the 859th Vertical Construction Company sent a mobile training team to Finley Shields, near Jalalabad, to assist Afghan National Army (ANA) engineers from 4th Brigade, 201st Corps in expanding their tactical operations center (TOC).
When the team from the 859th met their Afghan partners, they knew they were in for a challenge.
The Afghan soldiers who joined them on the job site were all horizontal engineers, trained in building roads and earthmoving operations, and were unfamiliar with constructing buildings. The 859th team set out first to teach vertical construction techniques to the Afghans, who quickly learned the new skill set.
“It was a cakewalk really,” said Sergeant Keiane Magee, a native of Hattiesburg Miss., commenting on how fast the Afghan engineers learned the trade. “They would direct me to where the right cuts were.”
As the non-commissioned officer in charge at the job site, Magee frequently met with the 4th Brigade leadership to ensure the construction was being built to their specifications.
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Afghan soldiers train on demolition, continue clearing roadside bombs
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LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – “Infaja! Infaja! [Blast! Blast!]” Afghan Nation Army soldiers called out as they hurried quickly towards the concrete bunkers to seek cover. A demolition charge of several blocks of C-4 plastic explosive was about to detonate. The soldiers crowded into the bunkers in anticipation, with huge grins on their faces. They had placed it themselves.
The Afghan soldiers of the 4th Brigade, 203rd Corps, were completing a week of training at their base here in late April, learning sapper tasks, combat engineering, and basic demolition taught by the 57th Sapper Company, out of Fort Bragg, N.C.
The 57th soldiers instructed the Afghan students on constructing obstacles using concertina and barbed wire, as well as basic demolitions – which they had all been eagerly awaiting.
Originally, the plan for the demolition training was for a small group of soldiers from the Engineer Coy of the brigade’s 4th Kandak, as the culmination of their engineer training validation, a certification process planned out by the Afghan brigade engineer, with help from U.S. advisers. The brigade engineer, however, did not want the skills confined to just the engineer coy.
“I always enjoy training the Afghan National Army. They are very attentive and quick to learn,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Eric Prescott, a native of Addison, N.Y. “This class now has soldiers from all of 4th Brigade and grew from 15 soldiers at first, to 33 soldiers. We normally work with the RCC [route clearance company]. However, this was a good opportunity to train ANA infantry as well as engineer soldiers.”
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Afghan 203rd Corps Engineer Kandak completes final test, ready for operations
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KABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan – At Camp Blackhorse, a Canadian training team busily worked with over three hundred Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers. Carrying hammers, saws, and driving bulldozers, these soldiers were working to pass their final test at the Consolidated Fielding Center (CFC), training to become the new Corps Engineer Kandak that would provide construction support for the entire ANA 203rd Corps.
The 203rd Corps Engineer Kandak (CEK) is primarily a construction unit, to support the 203rd Corps in all manner of horizontal and vertical projects. As military engineers however, they still know how to fight. With their rifles loaded with blank rounds, their validation exercise at the CFC was two days of construction projects, all performed under war-time conditions. A group of Canadian trainers made up the opposition force, trying to stop the CEK soldiers.
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