AFGHANISTAN: TWO CANADIAN SOLDIERS KILLED WHEN THEIR JEEP HIT A LANDMINE IN KABUL.

Record ID: 208477

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: TWO CANADIAN SOLDIERS KILLED WHEN THEIR JEEP HIT A LANDMINE IN KABUL.
  • Date: 3rd October 2003
  • Summary: (U3) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (OCTOBER 3, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS/CU: CANADIAN SOLDIERS IN JEEP NEAR SCENE. (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. WS: PRESS CONFERENCE BY MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW LESLIE DEPUTY ISAF (INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE) COMMANDER AND HEAD OF CANADIAN CONTINGENT IN AFGHANISTAN / ZOOM IN TO LESLIE. 0.15 3. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW LESLIE, DEPUTY ISAF (INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE) COMMANDER AND HEAD OF CANADIAN CONTINGENT IN AFGHANISTAN, SAYING: "First and foremost it is too early to say whether or not it was a deliberate attack. It is also too early to say what type of explosive device it was. I believe it would be wrong for us to speculate until such time as the professional emergency ordnance technicians and the combat engineers have a chance to go in and do a forensic analysis, because quite frankly the last thing we want to do is to get it wrong in terms of trying to determine exactly what happened," 0.43 4. VARIOUS CANADIAN SOLDIERS AND MILITARY LAS: OF CANADIAN FLAG / PULL DOWN/VARIOUS: VEHICLES PARKED ON ROAD NEAR SCENE, SOLDIERS ON GUARD. (5 SHOTS) 1.13 5. VARIOUS: SOLDIERS TALKING TO UNIDENTIFIED CIVILIANS. (3 SHOTS) 1.28 6. VARIOUS: TROOPS IN THEIR VEHICLES. (3 SHOTS) 1.43 7. TRAVEL: CANADIAN JEEPS DRIVING ALONG TREE-LINED ROAD. (2 SHOTS) 1.55 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Reuters ID: LVAIVQYFONUHQ74060NJ5SYJY95
  • Story Text: Two Canadian soldiers have died in Kabul after their
    jeep drove over a landmine.



    Two Canadian peacekeepers were killed and three
    wounded when their jeep hit a land mine in the Afghan
    capital Kabul on Thursday (October 2), a spokesman for the
    International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on
    Friday (October 3).

    But Canada said the deaths would not deter it from
    staying in the 5,500-strong NATO-led force, responsible for
    ensuring security in Kabul, and patrols resumed soon
    afterward. The incident marked Canada's first casualties
    since it sent around 2,000 troops in August on a one-year
    attachment to ISAF.

    It is also the worst incident involving ISAF troops
    since four German soldiers were killed and 31 wounded in a
    suicide car bomb attack on their bus in early June.

    Deputy ISAF Commander and head of the Canadian
    contingent in Afghanistan, Major General Andrew Leslie,
    said the Canadian soldiers were on a regular patrol when
    one of two vehicles in the convoy hit what Canadian
    officials called a very large explosive device.

    The dead soldiers are a 42-year-old sergeant and a
    29-year-old corporal.

    Leslie said it was too early to say who was
    responsible.

    "First and foremost it is too early to say whether or
    not it was a deliberate attack. It is also too early to say
    what type of explosive device it was. I believe it would be
    wrong for us to speculate until such time as the
    professional emergency ordnance technicians and the combat
    engineers have a chance to go in and do a forensic
    analysis, because quite frankly the last thing we want to
    do is to get it wrong in terms of trying to determine
    exactly what happened," he told a news briefing in Kabul on
    Friday..
    Ottawa said there was no question of pulling out its
    troops. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told
    reporters in Vancouver that Canada had made a commitment to
    be there for a year with 2,000 people and the peacekeepers
    would carry on with their duties.

    Chretien also said the incident had only increased his
    desire to visit Afghanistan. He is tentatively due to spend
    a day in Kabul during a trip to southeast Asia later this
    month.

    Kabul state media said Afghan security forces arrested
    five people in the capital who had trained outside the
    country and were preparing to carry out "terrorist"
    attacks.

    Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the United Nations
    are calling for an expansion of ISAF operations outside
    Kabul, where a resurgent Taliban, criminals and local
    warlords have been blamed for a wave of violence since
    early August.

    Leslie told reporters by phone from Kabul that within
    the previous 24 hours engineers had cleared the sandy track
    where the land mine was planted, in the foothills around
    the capital about 3-1/2 km (2 miles) from the Canadian
    camp.

    In April 2002, four Canadian soldiers taking part in a
    U.S.-led operation in southern Afghanistan were killed when
    a U.S. warplane mistakenly dropped a bomb on them.

    Canada sent its contingent to Afghanistan as a way of
    contributing to the U.S. war on terrorism without having to
    join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which it opposed.






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