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October 3, 2006
Insurgents ambush Cdn troops
SPERWAN, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian soldiers faced a series of attacks Tuesday in the volatile region west of Kandahar.
Insurgents have staged attacks including ambushes, rocket attacks and a suicide bombing. No injuries were immediately reported in the incidents.
A G-Wagon jeep was left in flames after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a Canadian military convoy in on the western side of Kandahar city. Maj. Daryl Morrell, a NATO-led force spokesman, said the bomber rammed his motorcycle into the convoy, killing himself in the blast.
"I was sitting outside my shop," said a witness, Ali Ahmad. "I saw a motorbike come close to the Canadian convoy and then detonated himself."
In an earlier attack, a Canadian patrol came under heavy fire along the Arghandab River, just southwest of the scene of heavy fighting in September.
The soldiers of Charles Company returned fire and returned to a makeshift base nearby.
Charles Company lost four soldiers exactly a month ago in an ambush a few kilometres away. The next day, the same company lost another soldier to friendly fire by U.S. warplanes.
Elsewhere, two U.S. and one Afghan soldier died Monday evening during a gunfight with militants in eastern Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, the U.S. military said in a statement. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the battle in Pech district, although they were now in stable condition, it said.
About 7,000 Afghan and U.S. troops are operating in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Mountain Fury, aimed at wiping out militants and extending the Afghan government's reach.
Separately, three Afghan border police were killed and three wounded late Monday after Taliban fighters attacked their outpost near the border in the eastern province of Paktika, said provincial Gov. Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak.
Meanwhile, NATO said it will take over the command of military operations for all of Afghanistan from the U.S.-led coalition on Thursday. The announcement was made by Daan Everts, the alliance's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan.
Of the 40,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about 8,000 U.S. troops tracking al-Qaida terrorists or involved in air operations will remain outside NATO's control, officials said.
Canada has about 2,200 soldiers operating in Kandahar province as part of the NATO force.
NATO's twin roles of combating the growing violence and attempting to extend the reach of the Afghan government are among the most challenging missions the alliance has undertaken in its 57-year history.
Afghanistan in the last several months has seen the largest increase in violence since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime from power in 2001.
A suicide bomber in the capital, Kabul, killed 12 people and wounded more than 40 on Saturday.
Insurgents ambush Cdn troops
SPERWAN, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian soldiers faced a series of attacks Tuesday in the volatile region west of Kandahar.
Insurgents have staged attacks including ambushes, rocket attacks and a suicide bombing. No injuries were immediately reported in the incidents.
A G-Wagon jeep was left in flames after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a Canadian military convoy in on the western side of Kandahar city. Maj. Daryl Morrell, a NATO-led force spokesman, said the bomber rammed his motorcycle into the convoy, killing himself in the blast.
"I was sitting outside my shop," said a witness, Ali Ahmad. "I saw a motorbike come close to the Canadian convoy and then detonated himself."
In an earlier attack, a Canadian patrol came under heavy fire along the Arghandab River, just southwest of the scene of heavy fighting in September.
The soldiers of Charles Company returned fire and returned to a makeshift base nearby.
Charles Company lost four soldiers exactly a month ago in an ambush a few kilometres away. The next day, the same company lost another soldier to friendly fire by U.S. warplanes.
Elsewhere, two U.S. and one Afghan soldier died Monday evening during a gunfight with militants in eastern Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, the U.S. military said in a statement. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the battle in Pech district, although they were now in stable condition, it said.
About 7,000 Afghan and U.S. troops are operating in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Mountain Fury, aimed at wiping out militants and extending the Afghan government's reach.
Separately, three Afghan border police were killed and three wounded late Monday after Taliban fighters attacked their outpost near the border in the eastern province of Paktika, said provincial Gov. Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak.
Meanwhile, NATO said it will take over the command of military operations for all of Afghanistan from the U.S.-led coalition on Thursday. The announcement was made by Daan Everts, the alliance's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan.
Of the 40,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about 8,000 U.S. troops tracking al-Qaida terrorists or involved in air operations will remain outside NATO's control, officials said.
Canada has about 2,200 soldiers operating in Kandahar province as part of the NATO force.
NATO's twin roles of combating the growing violence and attempting to extend the reach of the Afghan government are among the most challenging missions the alliance has undertaken in its 57-year history.
Afghanistan in the last several months has seen the largest increase in violence since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime from power in 2001.
A suicide bomber in the capital, Kabul, killed 12 people and wounded more than 40 on Saturday.