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6 Canadians killed when there RG-31 Nyala was blown up by an IED

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  • 6 Canadians killed when there RG-31 Nyala was blown up by an IED

    CTV.ca | Six Canadian soldiers killed in roadside blast

    Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, commander of Task Force Afghanistan, confirmed the deaths during a news conference Wednesday in Kandahar.

    He said the soldiers -- who have not been identified pending notification of next of kin -- were travelling in a RG-31 Nyala armoured vehicle with the interpreter when they were struck by an improvised explosive device.
    All the vehicle's occupants were killed.

    Grant told reporters the RG-31 is considered one of the safest vehicles in the Canadian fleet, and was driving on a road that the military has used regularly over the past month.
    Last edited by Canmoore; 04 Jul 07,, 18:30.

  • #2
    This is now the make it or break it point. Either we come home or we stay all the way.

    Personally, I think we're staying. The Canadian public has long since stop caring that we're bleeding.

    Comment


    • #3
      Sad day for Canadians.

      I think it is time to either protect them with the proper equipment or bring them home!

      I was in Pet (DEEP RIVER) on the weekend visiting a close friend and his Family. He came home in Feb from A stan. The Mood in Pet is pretty somber, Sounds like the RCD are having a very hard tour.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Officer of Engineers View Post
        This is now the make it or break it point. Either we come home or we stay all the way.

        Personally, I think we're staying. The Canadian public has long since stop caring that we're bleeding.
        I agree, however I think that Canadians will be better able to swallow these tragic incidents today than in the past. The media and general public is vastly different today than it was during the fall of 2006.
        The summer of 2006 was a bloody one for Canada, the public and media were blasting the mission.

        Strong Leadership shown by Harper, and Hillier. Combined with a conservative grass root movement to drum up support for the mission. Spear headed by two woman from Pettewawa, in conjunction with Lowell Green and CFRA, A Conservative radio talk show based in Ottawa. Began the "Red Friday" movement, and rallies were held across the country, to show support for the troops, and the mission.

        All of this Helped in increasing support for the mission across the country. Large corporations are bowing to public pressure, and allowing employees to participate in Red Fridays. Such as attaching red ribbons to Uniforms, the exception of this is Quebec, were anti-mission sentiment is higher than ever.
        Last edited by Canmoore; 05 Jul 07,, 17:14.

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        • #5
          Colonel,

          I would like to look at it differently.

          Canada is not bleeding. It is merely doing its job and these casualties are but unavoidable.

          One could hunker down in their bases and do time slotting. But once someone comes out and gets their teeth into the business, there will be some backlash.

          Army is all about defending a idea of the govt. It is not for us to decide if it is right or wrong because the govt is elected by the majority.

          While I grieve at the loss of these lives, yet I take pride that the Canadians are there in the forefront and "going for it", instead of wearing skirts and talking big!

          Proud of you Canadians.

          God Bless You All!

          I wish I could be shoulder to shoulder with you in your pursuit of your goals. I have searched the internet for a job out there, but none is there for a chap of my age. I don't mind dying for the cause! As you are aware I encourage my brother.
          Last edited by Ray; 05 Jul 07,, 19:38.


          "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

          I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

          HAKUNA MATATA

          Comment


          • #6
            Sir,

            Kind words and I for one would be so honoured if I ever had the chance to stand beside you and to follow your lead.

            My usage of the term, bleeding, is in reference to the civilians. As far as my read is concerned, it's not an election issue, not even in Quebec.

            Comment


            • #7
              God Bless those brave souls, may they rest in peace. My Regimental Motto;

              "Fear Naught".

              Comment


              • #8
                An investigation after this incident, has revealed that the crater left from the explosion was about 3 meters (9feet) wide and 1 meter (3 feet) deep. The engineers are saying that this is the largest IED that they have ever encountered in Afghanistan.

                It is believed that all 6 occupants were killed instantly.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Canuck View Post
                  Sad day for Canadians.

                  I think it is time to either protect them with the proper equipment or bring them home!

                  I was in Pet (DEEP RIVER) on the weekend visiting a close friend and his Family. He came home in Feb from A stan. The Mood in Pet is pretty somber, Sounds like the RCD are having a very hard tour.
                  Hard to protect against enough ordinance to take out a tank. The Nyala is fairly well protected, certainly much more than the old Illtis jeeps. Contrary to what the media says, this is not a setback, just an unfortunate incident.

                  I for one am VERY proud of our troops work.
                  Facts to a liberal is like Kryptonite to Superman.

                  -- Larry Elder

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    More From Panjwai

                    In a district that was characterized as "...one of the safer areas in the province..." by Brig. Tim Grant, internecine fighting between Afghan government forces has been near continuous since the deployment last spring of an Afghan security unit- the 05 Police Standby Battalion (huh?).

                    Despite a year of intense military operations and millions of dollars in aid, we've only managed to make the area safe for criminal exploitation by the Afghan government's own forces.

                    Meanwhile, the Taliban, realizing the inability of the Afghan security units to "hold" what, evidently, was presumed to be "cleared", have again encroached into the western edges of the district-

                    "Lieutenant-Colonel Rob Walker, Canada's battle group commander, said in a recent interview that he knows the 05 Battalion has struggled. The district has grown more restive since early June, he said, but it's hard to tell why the police have suffered so many casualties.

                    'They started getting hit,' he said. 'Was it because they were extorting people? Was it because they're soft targets for the Taliban?'"




                    More From the Globe & Mail
                    "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                    "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Taliban Use of IEDs

                      We've all understood that it was inevitable that the Taliban would begin to adopt tactics and weaponry proven effective by the Iraqi insurgents and that this meant the increased use of IEDs.

                      Strategies Honed In Iraq Give Taliban A Killer Edge

                      Some argue that these weapons can only be defeated with aggressive DISMOUNTED patrols and the assistance of the local population. Others argue that the threat is equally real when dismounted, which I'd tend to agree.

                      Given the size of the Afghan battlefield and the limited numbers of NATO troops available for patrol (i.e. willing to provoke contact and engage enemy forces), it might seem logical that troops must remain mounted simply to achieve any modicum of coverage. So I'm unconvinced that dismounting our forces routinely, as a TTP to defeat what appears to be the primary killer we face-IEDs, would allow us to reach into the more remote districts.

                      Unfortunately, the remoteness of many of our primary LOCs offer the Taliban nearly unlimited opportunities to place IEDs unobserved from prying eyes and which are guaranteed to interdict our forces at some point.

                      Overall, our lack of troops increases dramatically the vulnerability of those who are there now.
                      "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                      "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        S2,

                        I found that dismounted patrols are more effective than mounted. Afghanistan and Kashmir are quite similar as far as terrain is concerned, though Kashmir is more developed.

                        Mounted patrols can only carry out cursory surveillance and area domination. Foot patrols can carry out search in detail, though it is troop intensive.


                        "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

                        I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

                        HAKUNA MATATA

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          oddly enough there is a current thread on ARRSE regarding the apparent imballance of casualties between Canadian and UK forces in A'stan, with Canadian forces taking both a greater number of casualties and losing a greater proportion of those casualties through IED action.

                          obviously Kandahar as an urban centre makes attacks easier than in much more rural Helmand, and its history as a real 'Taliban heartland' are serious issues, but there appeared to be a concensus that in opting for ever-heavier armour over mobility (principly air mobility) the Canadians had got themselves into a viscious circle of being forced to use fewer and fewer roads thus making IED attacks easier to plan, and with Taliban forces just having to make bigger IED's in order to defeat the increasingly armoured force.
                          before criticizing someone, walk a mile in their shoes.................... then when you do criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Ray Reply

                            "Afghanistan and Kashmir are quite similar as far as terrain is concerned, though Kashmir is more developed."

                            As I suspect. Brigadier, I haven't been to either area. My photo recons, however, indicate that away from the Afghan-Pak border northeast, east, and southeast of Kabul (i.e. Jalalabad and Asadabad areas) the LOCs (lines of communication/highways) cross VAST distances of open flats. Kandahar and Helmand provinces seem very open, relatively flat, and agarian. Some areas hold clusters of farming villages broken or divided by gaps of significant distance. It might not be unusual in these southern regions to road march 20-50kms daily.

                            It's just speculation on my part about the distances involved in many of those A.O.s (Areas of Operation) where the highest tempos of contact are achieved, but that's the problem if my cursory examination is correct. Too troop intensive given the distances between villages. My suspicion is that battalion battlegroups and company teams simply don't have the men/time to dismount except when moving through built-up areas/villages/towns, where it would be absolutely essential to conduct detailed dismounted patrols along the LOC.

                            Any way I slice this conumdrum, America/N.A.T.O. don't have near enough boots in the sand to make a decisive difference in Afghanistan. I think that we're at a point of operational equilibrium where neither side possesses a decisive advantage.
                            "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                            "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              One uses the Road opening Parties for roads that are to be used and it is picqueted and between picquets the patrols operate at random. Even so, there is always the chance of an IED, but the possibility is diminished.

                              However, in an emergency, when militants are reported in a village and the roads or track leading to the village has not been picqueted for the CASO teams to reach the village, the risk has to be accepted.


                              "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

                              I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

                              HAKUNA MATATA

                              Comment

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