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| Afghanistan |
| 2 Canadian soldiers killed |
| 2008-12-28 |
| KANDAHAR, Afghanistan--The bodies of two Canadian soldiers killed yesterday by a roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan are on their way home. Hundreds of soldiers stood row by row at a twilight ramp ceremony Sunday at Kandahar Airfield to say a final farewell to their fallen comrades. Warrant Officer Gaetan Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse were killed during a security patrol in the Panjway district, in the western part of Kandahar province. The blast, which happened at around 12:15 p.m. local time, also killed an Afghan police officer and a local interpreter, and wounded four other Canadian soldiers and another Afghan interpreter. Roberge was part of the Canadian team mentoring Afghanistan's fledgling national police force. He and the Afghan police were on a foot patrol about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar city when they came across a suspected bomb. It has been a bloody weekend for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Pte. Michael Freeman, 28, of Peterborough, Ont., was killed Friday when his armoured vehicle struck an explosive during a security patrol in Zhari district. The attack that killed Roberge and Kruse happened mere hours before Freeman's flag-covered casket was loaded onto a military aircraft during a ramp ceremony. The latest deaths bring to 106 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in the Afghan mission since 2002. One diplomat and two aid workers have also been killed. Roadside bomb attacks have killed nine Canadian soldiers this month. December is now the bloodiest month since April 2007, when nine soldiers were killed. Since deploying to Kandahar province in 2006, however, Canada has generally sustained its heaviest combat casualties during the spring, summer and early autumn. Reporter can't resist... |
| Posted by:Skunky Glins 5*** |