Friday, August 11, 2006

Another Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan

It's happened again.
The latest in a recent string of fatalities involving Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan happened Friday, when a suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.
The incident took place in southern Afghanistan, where a rash of insurgent violence has emerged in recent weeks.
There were two other soldiers in the G-Wagon at the time of the explosion, all headed back to Kandahar City. Witnesses say the initial blast was followed by a massive fire, but neither of the other soldiers was injured.
As for the deceased soldier, his name's being withheld temporarily at the request of his family.
A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack and said the bomber was an Afghan named Mohammad Ilyas, who also died in the attack. Three Afghan civilians were also injured.
With the latest fatality, seven Canadian soldiers have been killed in the past week, bringing the death toll to 26 soldiers since Canada entered the country in 2002.
Recent weeks have also seen some of the bloodiest fighting since the Taliban were ousted by a U.S.-led coalition within months of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Canada has about 2,200 troops in Afghanistan, most of them based in Kandahar.