National Defence and the Canadian Forces
www.forces.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
News Release
Car bomb detonates near Canadian patrol
NR– 05.080 - October 5, 2005
Kandahar, Afghanistan – At about 1:45 a.m. (Eastern Daylight) on October 5, 2005, a car bomb detonated by a suicide bomber killed an unconfirmed number of Afghan civilians and slightly injured three Canadian soldiers deployed with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar. The car bomb was placed on Highway 4 near the PRT compound.
The injured soldiers were part of a routine Canadian Forces patrol made up of about a dozen soldiers in G-Wagons (officially “Light Utility Vehicles, Wheeled” or “LUVWs”). Immediately after the explosion, the soldiers established a security cordon around their vehicles, and the Afghan National Police and members of the PRT Quick Reaction Force (QRF) arrived within minutes to reinforce their position.
The injured soldiers received only minor burns and sore muscles. After the incident, PRT medical staff checked all the soldiers in the patrol as a safety precaution. The blast did not damage the G-Wagons seriously; in fact, they were roadworthy enough to be driven safely back to the PRT compound.
A detailed investigation into the nature and circumstances of the explosion is being conducted. No more information will be available until the investigation is completed.
“The mission in Afghanistan involves significant risks, but the soldiers are well equipped, well trained and well led, and the appropriate steps are taken to minimize or mitigate the risk”, said Colonel Steve Bowes, Commander of the PRT. “The most important of those measures are the training our soldiers receive, and the procedures we establish for operations and vigilance.”
The PRT consists of about 250 soldiers, most of them from Land Force Western Area, headquartered at Edmonton, Alberta. The PRT brings together Canadian military personnel, civilian police, diplomats and aid workers in an integrated effort to reinforce the authority of the Afghan government in and around Kandahar and to help stabilize the region. To achieve its mission, the PRT conducts security patrols, assists local reconstruction efforts, supports local governance institutions, and facilitates reforms to the security sector.
–30–
RSS DND/CF News (What is RSS?)
