A report that Canadian soldiers were abducted in Afghanistan is false and all troops have been accounted for, officials said Wednesday after a head count to make sure. The Prime Minister's Office announced that all 2,300 Canadian personnel and another 4,200 coalition troops in the war-torn country were safe. The head count was conducted after the Al-Jazeera and Reuters news agencies reported Taliban claims that it had abducted several soldiers.
Maj. Scott Lundy, spokesman for the multinational brigade based in Kandahar, said while the military immediately questioned the accuracy of the Taliban claim, it had to double check as a precaution. "This is not the first time they have made these claims and they have always proven false," he said. Al Jazeera was reportedly no longer broadcasting the abduction story by Wednesday afternoon. |