Two more Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Updated Wed. Apr. 11 2007 4:08 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Two more Canadian soldiers have been reportedly killed in Afghanistan.
The news comes on the same day that the bodies of six Canadians killed in Afghanistan on Easter Sunday will be flown back to CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario.
"Details will have to wait until later on," Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief, told Newsnet on Wednesday. The main base in Kandahar, Afghanistan is currently under a "lockdown" order, meaning soldiers and media there can't communicate with those outside the base, he said.
The information, when it does come out, will come from either the Dept. of National Defence or from Canadian military officials in Kandahar, he said.
"Everybody had been saying when the summer began in Afghanistan that it would be another bloody summer like it was last year," Fife said.
Earlier Wednesday, a suicide bombing attack on a Canadian convoy west of Kandahar City injured 10 Afghan civilians but no Canadian soldiers.
There was minor damage to a Canadian Forces tanker truck in that incident.
Repatriation ceremony
The bodies of the six soldiers are scheduled to arrive at 7:15 p.m. ET at the air base located about 160 kilometres east of Toronto.
Sgt. Don Lucas, Master Cpl. Chris Stannix, Cpls Aaron Williams and Brent Poland, and Ptes David Greenslade and Kevin Kennedy were killed when their light armoured vehicle ran over a roadside bomb 75 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
They were inside a LAV-III armoured vehicle at the time. Military officials say the bomb was probably both very powerful and a lucky strike, as LAVs have been doing a good job of keeping Canadian soldiers protected.
When the bodies arrive, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor will be on the tarmac to meet them, along with their families and other dignitaries.
Fife said the event is closed to the media at the request of two of the families, although CTV and other outlets will cover it from outside the base.
He didn't know if Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, the formal commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, will attend the repatriation ceremony or a memorial at CFB Gagetown, the New Brunswick home base for five of the six dead soldiers.
Other Afghanistan developments
The U.S. announced Wednesday that all soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq will immediately begin serving 15-month tours instead of the usual 12-month tours.
Canadian soldiers are working on six-month rotations in Afghanistan.
In addition, Australia announced Wednesday it will add another 400 troops to its current Afghan deployment of 550.
"This is good news," Fife said. "One of the problems that our soldiers, and all the NATO soldiers in Afghanistan, face is that there isn't enough boots on the ground to be able to deal with the Taliban."
This is particularly true for the British, Dutch and Canadian soldiers operating in southern Afghanistan, which is Taliban heartland, he said.
Keeping more U.S. soldiers on the ground and adding some Australian ones should help, he said.
NATO's defence ministers are meeting Thursday in Quebec City. "Perhaps there'll be some more developments ... in terms of troop commitments," Fife said.
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