Four Canadian soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in two separate attacks yesterday in the Zhari District, about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar City.In the first incident, insurgents engaged Canadian soldiers with small-arms fire during a security operation. One Canadian was injured.
At about the same time nearby, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, resulting in one soldier being seriously wounded while two other Canadians and an Afghan interpreter were badly injured. The blast occurred while soldiers were on foot patrol.
All five casualties were airlifted to Kandahar Airfield's multinational medical unit, with the seriously injured soldier expected to be transferred to Landstuhl, Germany. The interpreter was transferred to General Shirzai Hospital, where he is reported to be in good condition. The Canadian Forces did not identify the wounded soldiers.
The Canadian Task Force and Afghan national security forces recently completed a successful operation to neutralize IED production cells in Kandahar Province. "We have come to expect retaliation from insurgents following their setbacks, and we do everything possible to ensure we are prepared," said navy Lieut. Al Blondin, spokesman for the task force.
Both attacks occurred in the midst of the "days of tranquillity," a three-day period when international aid agencies such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization planned to blanket the southern area of conflict with mobile teams sent to inoculate children under the age of five against polio. UNICEF officials said earlier yesterday that "access negotiators" had spoken with the Taliban to arrange a temporary cessation of hostilities in the most dangerous areas, which includes Zhari.
The latest days of tranquillity, an initiative that has been employed in other global hotspots in order to reach at-risk civilians, was to have run until tonight. It's supposed to be a three-day respite to eradicate polio in children.
| That sort of thing is supposed to get the infidels to let their guard down so the Faithful™ can get in some effective whacks. The commies used to do the same thing. In fact, there was a truce in effect when the Tet offensive began. |