Patrolling Canadian soldiers fired upon near Kabul

[putz]

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1878049

Monday, Mar 21, 2005  

Patrolling Canadian soldiers fired upon near Kabul

KABUL (CP) - No one was injured when a Canadian vehicle was shot at while returning from a patrol in the Afghan capital on the weekend, the military said Monday.

A ballistics expert said the lead vehicle in a convoy of Coyote armoured vehicles was hit by a rifle bullet on Saturday, said a statement. The soldiers did not fire back.

The vehicles, part of NATO's Kabul Multi-National Brigade Reconnaissance Squadron, are based at Camp Julien on the southern edge of the city.

The incident occurred just before sunrise, as the Coyotes were driving home through a ravine east of Kabul.

The crew hatches of the leading vehicle were open, and the crew commander and gunner were observing the road from their cupolas when the bullet hit, said the statement.

"I heard a snap and both the gunner and I saw a large flash (a spark) from an object that struck the front of our turret," said Master Cpl. Kevin Mallot, crew commander of the lead Coyote.

Mallot ordered the driver to "step on it" to clear the area and warned the other vehicles by radio.


The Coyotes continued along their planned route before stopping briefly to confirm no one was injured and to inspect the turret.

Mallot said there was a half-centimetre groove in the paint where the bullet struck.

NATO forces are investigating.

© The Canadian Press, 2005

MOD Edit "atrolling" modified to "Patrolling"

 

[Tpr.Orange]

Good to hear nobody was hurt, gotta bunch of buddies over there cant wait to have em home safe.

 

[Armymedic]

This happened a couple days ago...

The troops drove thru as per the drill. They weren't sure it was a bullet strike of a stone ricochet, until it was investigated at Camp Julien.

It occured about 15 km from the US camp I am in on the east side of Kabul.

Last week there was an ANA soldier killed and another injured by a mine blast near the downed Afghan ariliner in the mountains...they are still continuing body recovery there. Melting snow is exposing mines on the side of the mountain above the crash.

Kabul will be an interesting place this summer.

 

[P-Free]

I wonder why they didn't fire back...

 

[Meridian]

I would assume, reading Armymedic's post, that they didnt know they had been fired upon; and had thought it might have even been a stone.  So they drove on "as per drill" to a safe spot to check it out.

Id rather we didnt fire every time something sounded like a shot; but hey, thats just me being a civvy.

 

[Armymedic]

I wonder why they didn't fire back...

2 reasons..first They were driving thru an mountainous area away from the city where there are very few people, and (I assume, cause I roughly know the area) that they were between two higher features on either side of the road.

Second, before you fire, you must clearly identify the target your are shooting at.

So it would be right to assume that Haji, after taking a potshot at the convoy, didn't stand up on top of a rock in his bright orange hunting suit and wave his arms so that the troops in the Coyotes could see him up on the ridges above the road...

 

[pbi]

I wonder why they didn't fire back...

Fire back at what? You can't just hose the gridsquare because a single round (that could have been fired by anybody for any number of reasons...) pings off your vehicle. The area around Kabul is littered with mud walls, compounds and villages that offer endless hiding places, and the city itself is a snipers' haven (if there are any snipers). The rules of engagement in OP ATHENA are quite generous, but common sense has to be applied, especially in an area like Kabul in which the overwhelming majority of people are not hostile. I can confirm from my time at CJTF76 that this was the same approach that the US took: avoid unecessary collateral damage that just pisses people off and achieves nothing.

Cheers

 

[Island Ryhno]

It would take greater conviction and courage to follow through on your SOP's for being fired upon, than to go guns a blazin' at a rock wall of nothing. This is the fantastic Canadian soldiering that we are used to, good show no one was hurt.

 

[Meridian]

on that note, are ROE's OPSEC, or are they available somewhere for public consumption?

 

[tomahawk6]

ROE's are usually not available to the general public.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

Canadian ROE is classified and typically you turn your card in as part of the mission clearance process.

I'm a bit surprised that a relatively minor incident like this has even made the press.  Various ISAF nations took "fire" like this on Roto 2 (the Germans spring to mind as an example - one of their vehicles had a grenade thrown at it, and a patrol came under sustained fire later in the tour - and I know Recce Sqn had a couple of close calls too), yet there was no press coverage. 

Of course none of this compares to what CJTF 76 deals with on a daily basis - not to mention the ANA.

Just an observation.

TR

 

[Britney Spears]

I'm a bit surprised that a relatively minor incident like this has even made the press.  Various ISAF nations took "fire" like this on Roto 2 (the Germans spring to mind as an example - one of their vehicles had a grenade thrown at it, and a patrol came under sustained fire later in the tour - and I know Recce Sqn had a couple of close calls too), yet there was no press coverage. 

Of course none of this compares to what CJTF 76 deals with on a daily basis - not to mention the ANA.

Just an observation.

Heh, how about the guys who were in Cyprus in the early 80s or Yugo in the early 90s? I'm sure we have lots of them on this very board.

 

[TCBF]

Having known MCpl Mallot since his Boeselager Team days on the North Marg in the late 80s, I too am VERY glad no one was hit.    Must have been a slow news day.  If we released this sort of level of info from our live-fire exercises, the papers would be full of it.  Furriners shooting at us is news, shooting at/over/past each other on live-fire battle runs is not.

Of course, some limelites are to be avoided: The pax in the back of the Bison amb that hit the anti-tank mine south of Kandahar Airfield in 2002 were somewhat publicity shy.  Didn't want people backl home to worry about them.

Tom