[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

September 25, 2007
Cdn soldier killed in Afghanistan
By Dene Moore, THE CANADIAN PRESS

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Before boarding a military flight to Afghanistan last month, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg told a newspaper in his hometown that the danger would not deter him.

"It's more of an argument we should be there - we know it's a mess and that's why we're there," he told the Calgary Sun in July, before deploying in late August.

On Monday, Hornburg became the 71st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan, killed in a mortar attack during a counter-insurgency operation in one of the most dangerous districts in the country.

The 24-year-old was a mechanic with the King's Own Calgary Regiment.

A member of a tank squadron, he was repairing the track on a Leopard 2 tank when he was killed in a mortar strike at approximately 4:30 p.m. local time, during Operation Sadiq Sarbaaz, or Operation Honest Soldier.

"Cpl. Hornburg had to dismount in order to put back a track on a Leopard tank and it's at this moment that the incident happened, that there was mortar shell attack," Brig-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan, told reporters at Kandahar Airfield on Tuesday, after Hornburg's next-of-kin had been informed of his death.

One other soldier was wounded in the mortar attack.

A rocket-propelled grenade launched by insurgents in an ensuing firefight wounded three more infantry soldiers. All were evacuated, by air and by ground, to the hospital at Kandahar Airfield.

"The injuries of our wounded are not life threatening," Laroche said.

The Canadian military commander emphasized that the tank was not hit by a roadside bomb and that the track came off on its own.

"It happens, . . ." Laroche said. "The terrain down there is very rough and that's something that we see on a regular basis, unfortunately."

Laroche offered his condolences to the Hornburg family.

"These incidents are extremely difficult and trying times for the families, friends and colleagues of Cpl. Hornburg," Laroche said.

"There is no way to comfort those who are grieving today except to say that Cpl. Hornburg was involved in a mission he believed in."

Last month, Canadian troops began a push into the dangerous Zhari district of Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban movement.

They have now moved back into the Panjwaii district to the south, another hotbed of insurgent activity and one that Canadians fought and died for last fall in Operation Medusa.

Medusa was the largest offensive undertaken since the Taliban were ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of 2001 and the largest combat operation by Canadian troops since the Korean War.

But much of that ground was lost over the summer, during the changeover of Canadian troops when Afghan national security forces were left to fend off insurgents.

Five Canadian soldiers have died since then.

Laroche made no apology for the fact Canadians are fighting for control of the same areas again.

"A counter-insurgency is difficult," he said. "It's difficult by the fact that you will never be able, essentially, to defeat completely the enemy so you have to find ways to reduce the threat - that's what we're doing - and also to give a chance to development and reconstruction - and that's what we've been doing."

Operation Sadiq Sarbaaz was aimed at pushing insurgents out of the Panjwaii region and establishing a police substation for Afghan National Police.

There were a few engagements with insurgents during the day prior to the mortar attack that killed Hornburg.

Military officials said some rebels were killed but, as is customary, they did not release a death toll.

Hornburg said in his July interview that being up against a foe willing to die to kill Canadians was a sobering thought, but also a motivating one.

"It just makes me more dedicated to do my job, so they don't kill you," he said.

Seventy-one Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have now died since Ottawa began its military mission in Afghanistan in 2002.

There have been 24 combat deaths so far this year, the most recent previously coming on Aug. 22.

Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier of the Royal 22nd Regiment and Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne, of the 5th Field Ambulance unit, both based in Valcartier, Que., were killed when their light armoured vehicle was struck by roadside bomb west of Kandahar city.