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Afghanistan
Afghan Land Mine Kills 2 Canadian soldiers
2003-10-03
EFL
A land mine hidden in a sandy track in the Afghan capital exploded Thursday, killing two Canadian peacekeepers and wounding three others. The blast came 24 hours after engineers checked the road for explosives and found nothing. However, officials said it was too early to determine whether the explosion was caused by an old land mine or one laid recently in an effort to target international peacekeepers. ``It was an explosive device of some magnitude,’’ Gen. Raymond Henault, the Canadian chief of defense staff, said in Toronto.
Damn.
The peacekeepers were on a routine patrol about two miles southwest of their camp, in foothills where attackers have previously launched rocket attacks, said Canadian Gen. Andrew Leslie, the deputy commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping force. Canada’s Defense Minister John McCallum said that ``this tragedy will in no way lessen our commitment’’ to the peacekeeping mission and that ``the security of Canada and of the greater international community depends on it.’’ The Canadian government identified the dead as Sgt. Robert Alan Short and Cpl. Robbie Christopher Beerenfenger. The injured were Master Cpl. Jason Cory Hamilton, Cpl. Cameron Lee Laidlaw and Cpl. Thomas Stirling. Two of the wounded had light injuries while the third was ``seriously ill’’ but not in life-threatening condition, said peace force spokesman Squadron Leader Paul Rice.
Thank you, Canada, and deep condolences to the families of the dead.
Posted by:Steve White

#6  Played hockey at USNA. We used to travel up to CMR to get wallopped once a year. The cadets and staff were high quality patriotic men that I would have been proud to serve with.
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-10-3 10:56:04 PM  

#5  I have a close friend in Winnipeg whose son is serving in Afghanistan, building bridges and repairing roads. He's not happy with the way things are going, but says it's slowly getting better. Wonder how far he was from this incident. John graduated from the Canadian military college last June. Now his real education is getting under way.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-10-3 10:28:08 PM  

#4  I have a close friend in Winnipeg whose son is serving in Afghanistan, building bridges and repairing roads. He's not happy with the way things are going, but says it's slowly getting better. Wonder how far he was from this incident. John graduated from the Canadian military college last June. Now his real education is getting under way.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-10-3 10:28:08 PM  

#3  I excused the Canucks from Iraq since they were already over-committed and were tied up in places like Afghanistan. Same war, different theatre.

God bless them, and God be with the families.
Posted by: Ptah   2003-10-3 10:17:41 AM  

#2  Damn shame....Rest in peace gents.
Posted by: Jarhead   2003-10-3 8:49:07 AM  

#1  Ditto on the condolences.
Posted by: Charles   2003-10-3 2:01:44 AM  

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