World

6 Canadian soldiers, interpreter killed in Afghanistan

by Actual News Geezer | July 4, 2007 at 08:59 am

599 views | 0 Recommendations | 1 comment

The news broke a few hours ago that 6 NATO soldiers and an Afgan interpreter had been killed by a roadside bomb. In a briefing a short while ago by Brig. Gen. Tim Grant, it was confirmed that the military casualties were Canadian. CBC is carrying live a briefing by Canadian military commanders in Kabul. The attack happened in the Panjwai district.

It's now nighttime in Afghanistan. The soldiers were seeking out Taliban fighters when their RG 31 armoured vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. No names have yet been released pending notification of next of kin.

There have now been 66 Canadian soldiers killed in the fighting in Afghanistan, and some think this latest slaughter might further weaken domestic support for the war.

Oddly, according to Col. Alain-Michel Pellerin (a military observer now being interviewed by the CBC), the region in which the soldiers were killed was "relatively stable," and so this episode is seen as something of an anomaly.

Six Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, military officials said Wednesday.

Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant told a briefing in Kandahar that an improvised explosive device went off as the soldiers' vehicle was passing.

Earlier, NATO spokesperson James Appathurai said the incident occurred in the volatile Panjwaii district west of Kandahar, an area he called "the spiritual home" of the Taliban.

"This was a very heavy blow," said Appathurai, who spoke to CBC News from Brussels.