[Avary]

Three others wounded as armoured vehicle attacked

KABUL – Two Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed and three other soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Kandahar province early today.

The deaths of Corp. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp of the 5th Field Ambulance in Valcartier and Pte. Michel Levesque of the Royal 22nd brought to 73 the number of Canadian soldiers killed since troops deployed to Afghanistan five years ago.

The Afghan interpreter's name was not released. Interpreters fear attacks on their families if their identities become known.

The soldiers were traveling in a Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) when it struck a landmine on a road near Bazar-e Panjwaii, west of Kandahar City.

The three soldiers wounded in the attack were transported to hospital at Kandahar Air Field. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening, a Canadian Forces official said.

The soldiers were conducting a “targeted security operation” in support of Afghan National Army at the time of the attack, which occurred shortly after midnight yesterday morning, said Col. Christian Juneau.

“This is an extremely difficult time for the families, friends and colleagues of those who have lost their lives or have been injured today,” Juneau said in a statement.

“On behalf of all the members of Joint Task Force (Afghanistan) I would like to convey my most sincere condolences to the families of our lost comrades.”

“ISAF troops contend with the threat of (bomb) strikes on a daily basis, but our soldiers continue to improve the security situation and make a very real and positive difference to the lives of normal hardworking Afghan people,” said Wing Commander Antony McCord, a spokesperson for Regional Command South.

“Our thoughts at this time are with the families and friends of those who have been killed or injured in today’s incident,” he said in the ISAF statement.

Today, a series of clashes in southern Afghanistan left 33 suspected Taliban militants dead, while a suicide bomber in the east wounded a NATO soldier, officials said. At least four police officers also died in the fighting.

Twenty-three Taliban militants were killed during a U.S.-led coalition operation aimed at disrupting a weapons transfer in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said today.

A truck apparently full of Taliban weapons exploded during the operation in Helmand province’s Garmsir district. The coalition said it didn’t know what triggered the explosion.

Coalition troops detained 11 people suspected of being part of a weapons running operation.

Elsewhere in Kandahar province, Canadian and Afghan troops battled militants in the Zhari district today, leaving at least 10 suspected militants dead, according to provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb. Authorities recovered the bodies of four of the dead militants alongside their weapons and ammunition, Saqeb said. There were no casualties among the Canadian and Afghan troops.

In a separate attack yesterday, one Afghan civilian was killed and two others injured when a suicide bomber on a motorbike ignited against a passing ISAF convoy in the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province.
The ISAF vehicle was badly damaged but only one ISAF service member sustained minor injuries.

“Once again we have an incident in which Afghan civilians end up suffering from Taliban extremists using indiscriminate weapons,” said Brig.-Gen. Carlos Branco, an ISAF spokesperson. “Eighty per cent of the victims of Taliban suicide bombings are civilians.”

Afghanistan has seen record levels of violence this year. More than 5,800 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence in 2007, according an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Not good news to go back home to this evening. R.I.P. Comrades.

TheStar.com | World | Two Canadians killed in Afghanistan