Injured Canadian soldiers back on duty after weekend attack
Last Updated: Monday, September 10, 2007 | 11:09 AM ET
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Two Canadian soldiers injured in a major weekend offensive were back on duty Monday.
The soldiers were treated in a hospital in Kandahar for shrapnel wounds after the Leopard tank they were walking beside struck a roadside bomb, the CBC's David Common reported from Afghanistan.
The tank, which was pushing a roller ahead of it to clear the road of bombs, was only slightly damaged in the Sunday attack.
The names of the soldiers have not been released by the Canadian military.
In a separate attack during the same offensive in the Zhari district, west of the city of Kandahar, a Canadian Press reporter and some Canadian soldiers were shaken up when the vehicle they were in hit a roadside bomb. No one was seriously injured.
"It was over before I realized what was going on," CP reporter Dene Moore told CBC News on Monday. "I heard a bang, I felt a push forward."
"For me, it was really shocking. I'm a civilian, so I'm not used to that…. It was a real wake-up call. I realized this is what Canadian soldiers face every day when they go out there."
Despite the two bombings on Sunday, the Canadian military declared the offensive a success.
It began Saturday morning with 700 Canadian soldiers, an unusually large number. They were working to retake a region that had fallen under Taliban control.
"I would say the population wants to be free and that's what we have accomplished in the past few days, to give them some freedom," Maj. Eric LaForest said.
One of the objectives of the mission was to go to the urgent aid of a group of Canadian soldiers cut off at their strategic camp.
Constant attack
The group had been under constant attack for several weeks, Common reported. The road that led to the group's camp had been littered with roadside bombs, forcing commanders to resupply the soldiers by helicopter.
During the weekend offensive, the Canadian military cleared a path to the group, allowing soldiers to move freely to and from their camp, Common said.
An estimated 2,500 Canadian soldiers are serving in Afghanistan, mostly in the Kandahar region, as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Seventy Canadian soldiers have died since Canada since joined the mission in 2002, shortly after the United States invaded in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and ousted the Taliban government.
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