Canadian vehicle hit in Taliban grenade attack
Last Updated: Friday, April 14, 2006 | 12:34 PM ET
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There were no reports of injuries in the incident. The vehicle was slightly damaged, suffering a blown tire, but was repaired at the scene of the incident.
"The crew who were in the vehicle would have been a little shaken up, but they've carried on with their task," said Maj. Scott Lundy, a spokesman for the Canadian brigade commander.
"These rocket-propelled grenades, we don't know whether it was someone lying in ambush or whether it was simply a couple of pot shots from a skilled rocketeer. We simply don't know at this point," he said.
Canadian soldiers inspect a light armoured vehicle like the one that was attacked Friday.
CBC News' Sasha Petricic reported that Taliban forces fired the rocket-propelled grenade at the Canadian light armoured vehicle (LAV) as it was rushing to a battle scene on the main highway about 10 kilometres west of Kandahar.
The Canadian LAV was one of several that was sent out after Taliban forces ambushed a group of Afghan soldiers and police.
What started out as a minor skirmish rapidly escalated into a significant battle that lasted for most of the afternoon. Canada sent about 100 soldiers to the scene along with several LAVs, attack helicopters and heavy artillery.
American Apache attack helicopters were dispatched and apparently fired several rockets at the roughly 20 suspected Taliban fighters, who withdrew into Sansigar, the Canadian Press reported. A pair of British Harrier jetfighters and an unknown number of U.S. A-10 tank-buster aircraft were also called out.
In a separate incident, at least three Canadian soldiers were injured Friday morning in a traffic accident north of Kandahar. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Lieut. Mark MacIntyre, a Canadian Forces spokesman, said the injured soldiers were immediately flown to a nearby medical station. They will be transferred to Canada's main base in Kandahar if more treatment is necessary.
Details are sketchy but the Canadian soliders were apparently driving in a convoy about 65 kilometres north of Kandahar when they went off the road.
Two Canadian soldiers have died and 17 have been injured in vehicle accidents since the Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan in early February. About 2,400 Canadian troops were operating Friday in several locations in and around the city of Kandahar.
The incidents came a few hours after a suicide bomber drove a station wagon rigged with explosives into a British convoy near the city of Lashkar Gar, injuring three British soldiers and one Afghan national.
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