Three Canadian Soldiers Survive IED Blast- Feb. 5 2008

[Nfld Sapper]

Article Link

2 Canadian soldiers slightly injured by roadside bomb
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 | 12:58 PM ET
CBC News
Two Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are back at work after they were slightly injured in a roadside bomb west of Kandahar city on Tuesday, with officials crediting their safety to the vehicle carrying them.

Capt. Josée Bilodeau would not release the type of vehicle the troops were travelling in, but said its armour protected them against the blast.

"The vehicle did its job," Bilodeau said.

The two soldiers suffered minor injuries, such as cuts and bruises, when the improvised explosive device exploded at 12:45 p.m. local time about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city, near a police substation.

A large number of the 78 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan have been killed by roadside bombs, a method frequently used by Taliban militants against foreign and Afghan troops.

Canada has 2,500 troops in Afghanistan in a combat mission that began in 2002.

The future of the mission is under discussion in Ottawa Tuesday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper tries to persuade Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to support the government in a conditional extension of the operation.

Last month, a panel headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley recommended Canada withdraw its troops by February 2009 unless NATO supplies extra troops and support, a recommendation Harper has supported.

The prime minister has vowed to hold a parliamentary vote on any extension of the mission and how the Liberals vote will likely be a deciding factor.

The Liberals want the mission to end as scheduled next spring with troops then refocusing on training and reconstruction efforts, whereas the NDP and Bloc Québécois have been firm in calling for a speedy end to the mission.

 

[ghyslyn]

It's good to hear that the injuries were minor.

 

[One Rabid Panda]

Indeed 

 

[GAP]

Three Canadian soldiers survive IED blast
Brian Hutchinson, Canwest News Service Published: Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Article Link

PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan — There was no mistaking the loud blast Tuesday afternoon just outside Zangabad village, a known Taliban haunt in Kandahar. It was another improvised explosive device.

No one was killed this time, but it was the worst way possible for three Canadians soldiers from an explosives ordnance unit to find the IED. They hit the device while moving towards Zangabad in their Cougar, a large armoured bomb-hunting vehicle.
The explosives were apparently tucked underneath a culvert, just 400 metres or so from an Afghan National Police substation.

The Cougar was tossed sideways and the culvert partially destroyed. No one was seriously hurt. Two of the soldiers received minor injuries but all three were able to walk away from the incident. They were quickly taken by Canadian medics to a forward operating base in Panjwaii district.

"The vehicle did its job," said spokeswoman Capt. Josee Bilodeau.

The trio was leading an advance team into Zangabad. Behind it, forming a line almost four kilometres long was a large convoy nearing the end of a two-day re-supply operation here. Comprising dozens of armoured vehicles and transport trucks, the convoy was slowly moving from one police substation to another, dropping off equipment and food and picking up Canadian soldiers.
More on link