Canada in Afghanistan

[John McGillivray]

Canadian soldier killed in Panjwaii district attack
Updated Tue. Jun. 3 2008 3:41 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A Canadian soldier was killed Tuesday morning in Afghanistan when his convoy came under enemy attack in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province.
Capt. Richard Steve Leary was killed during a dismounted security patrol with Afghan partners, said Colonel Jamie Cade during a Tuesday news conference.
"Captain Leary was what we in uniform are expected to be. Captain Leary was a soldier and Captain Leary was a leader," Cade said.
"In his memory and the memory of those that have gone before him we remain steadfast in our resolve to bring peace and stability to the people of Afghanistan. He will be greatly missed by his military family."
Leary, 32, was a platoon commander with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based out of Shilo, Man.
Originally from Brantford, Ont., he was on his first overseas mission. He leaves behind a wife, his parents and sister.
His repatriation ceremony is tentatively scheduled for June 6.
Leary was on a joint patrol with members of the Afghan National Security Forces in the Panjwaii region in southern Kandahar province when the group came under small arms fire from Taliban militants. The soldiers returned fire, then repositioned under Leary's leadership, when he was struck at about 9:30 a.m. local time, Cade said.
Close air support was called in and the insurgents were defeated.
Leary was airlifted to the medical facility at Kandahar Airfield where he was pronounced dead by a medical officer.
"Every death is deeply painful to us, but it is a risk that we as members of the Canadian Armed Forces understand and assume as we work to bring peace and stability to a country that has been torn apart by war," Cade said.
With the recent death, Canada's military losses in Afghanistan now total 84.
Earlier attacks
Taliban fighters have increasingly engaged NATO soldiers directly in recent weeks.
On Monday, four Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were injured in two separate Taliban attacks west of Kandahar.
One soldier was hit by gunfire while a roadside bomb blast wounded three others and their interpreter. The attacks occurred just minutes from each other in the volatile Zhari district, where Canadian forces have often come under Taliban fire.
The troops were doing foot patrols when they were attacked.
One of the soldiers was to be flown to a military hospital in German for treatment of serious injuries, while the other three were to be treated at the Kandahar base.
Recently, Canadian forces stepped up efforts to stop Taliban bomb-making operations, dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder.
Of the 84 Canadians killed in Afghanistan, 39 were killed by buried bombs.

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