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Maple_Leaf_Eh · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 517

www.jouster.com/cgi-bi...read=20687

This link will take you to a long text posting of a letter from a Canadian officer to a Canadian friend. It is as close to a first person narrative that I've seen yet from AF.

The comment that the letter is making the rounds in Ottawa is absolutely true. I was at a staff meeting Tuesday the first day after first seeing the text. A civilian employee said two people had sent him copies, and the routing links showed it had gone from coast to coast through a large number of interested parties.

Roy_A_Lingle

Hi Maple! Hi Folks!

Thanks for the link. I work the midnight shift and most of the time, I listen to the BBC while driving to work. While I don't recall much of anything on US TV or in the locate paper, I was getting the impression from the BBC that SOMETHING was going on in Afghanistan.

Very interesting. Confused

Sgt, Scouts Out!

J.McGillivray · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 149

Here is a link to a blog by an American reporter who was with the Canadians during the 14 day action described by the Canadian FOO.

www.beloblog.com/KGW_B...n/2006/07/

and links to videos shot during the same action.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxSmkwWNsOE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2r3C0PJ1LM

www.youtube.com/watch?...ted&search

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaC-w2dIxZc

Maple_Leaf_Eh · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 517

Roy:

In a nutshell, the Canadian Army battlegroup in Kandahar province is:

3 rifle companies,
combat support company,
a battery of 4x brand new M777 155mm guns, engineers,
Coyote-mounted sensor reconnaissance,
signalers,
truckers,
wrenches and recovery (hardest working men in NATO!),
terrain analysts,
EOD,
short-legged UAVs and
odds and sods.

The vehicles we see in the news are LAV IIIs, Coyotes, G-Wagons, RG31s, and 10ton HLVW trucks.

No helos or close air. A long airlink across the Middle East, across the Med' and across the Atlantic, being supplied by 40-year old Hercs and some 20yr old militarized Airbus 310s. Some of the tactical airlift is being done with contracted Russian planes. The CF18s weren't invited to the show, nor were the militarized Bell 412 "Griffins". The civil affairs (CIMIC) job is being done by reservists, whenever the threat level allows them out of camp. But the country did ship over a Tim Horton's coffee and donut concession trailer!

For 3 rifle companies, they are doing a helluva lot of work!

J.McGillivray · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 149

There are more reports of heavy fighting involving Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Cdn soldiers unscathed after bloody 12 hour clash
Updated Sun. Aug. 20 2006 1:43 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were embroiled in fierce fighting overnight that left as many as 72 suspected Taliban insurgents dead, according to NATO officials.

No Canadians were killed in the fighting west of Kandahar that began late Saturday and lasted through the night.

However, the Canadian Press cited sources who reported that as many as seven Afghans were killed in the fighting.

Though it is not clear who initiated the fighting, it took place after suspected Taliban insurgents attacked a market in Panjwaii and overran a police checkpoint, said CTV's Matt McClure, reporting from Kandahar.

"Afghan forces battled on their own for some four hours trying to repulse these insurgents before Canadian forces arrived on the scene in their Light Armoured Vehicles," McClure told CTV Newsnet.

"We're told the battle then raged through the night, some 12 hours, almost into the morning time."

Heavy artillery and coalition air support were called in before the fighting ended, McClure said. By the time the battle did come to a close, bodies and body parts were scattered around the area in a gruesome display of bloodshed, according to reports.

NATO said in a statement the fighting was part of "deliberate operations," in the region.

''Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF inflicted heavy casualties against Taliban fighters in Kandahar's Panjwaii district,'' the statement read.

It was ''a deliberate operation to extend security along southern Afghanistan's Highway 1 corridor.''

On Saturday, four American troops were killed and six were wounded in two separate attacks in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have been active in the Panjwaii region, the district where Canadians suffered their heaviest casualties when four soldiers were killed and another 10 were injured early in the month.

A Taliban source, who did not want to be identified, told CP late Saturday that ''the war is on.''

The recent round of fighting had calmed by Sunday morning, and no civilian casualties were reported.

In an unusual move, NATO claimed victory in the conflict.

''The latest engagement in which the insurgents have been defeated is another clear demonstration that ISAF, working with Afghan National Security Forces, is resolutely committed to bringing security to the areas of Afghanistan that most need it,'' said the statement.

The latest round of violence came as thousands of Afghans celebrated their national independence day with parades, fireworks and speeches.
With files from The Canadian Press

www.ctv.ca/servlet/Art...TopStories

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