Mar. 4, 2006. 02:40 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An attack initially described as a gun battle that wounded a Canadian soldier was actually a bizarre axe-and-grenade ambush, military officials said today.
Lieut. Trevor Greene of Vancouver was sitting down for a meeting with village elders this afternoon when a man struck him in the back of the head with an axe.
“We would classify it as absolutely cowardly, a maniac I guess is safe to say,” said Col. Tom Putt, the deputy commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
Moments after Canadian soldiers gunned down the attacker, a second assailant tossed a grenade. Afghan forces shot at the man, who escaped.
Earlier, a military official in Ottawa said gunfire was exchanged in the attack.
Putt said Greene had taken off his helmet out of respect for gathered elders when he was hit.
“His security force killed the assailant immediately after the attack,” Putt said.
In the ensuing melee, a grenade was tossed at Canadian forces “to no effect,” Putt said. He did not know if the grenade went off.
Afghan soldiers shot at the second attacker. Putt said soldiers believe the man was hit, but he escaped.
Greene was evacuated by a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter to a Canadian-run hospital. When he arrived, his uniform had been cut away from his upper body and a bandage was visible on his head.
Greene emerged from surgery this afternoon in serious condition.
He was also wounded lightly in a bomb attack earlier this year.
Putt said soldiers believe the attackers were not part of the meeting, but were lingering nearby when they struck.
“When there is agreement there will be a (meeting), the host offers security and you can come into a group and be protected by those people,” Putt said.
He said hundreds of these meetings, known as shura, have gone off without a problem.
The area is a hotbed of anti-government activity. The small encampment surrounded by farmers’ fields has previously come under rocket attack and several U.S. soldiers died in the area last year.
“The area in question has been one of the transit routes for some time for the Taliban,” Putt said.
Greene, a reservist with the Seaforth Highlanders, is an author and journalist based in Vancouver, when he’s not working with the military co-ordinating projects with local authorities.
Greene has written a book about the missing women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
It’s the second injury in Afghanistan for Greene, who suffered whiplash in February when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb.
The attack comes as Canadian troops face increasing attacks in the restive Kandahar region.
I am sure the attackers(the now dead hatchet man, and the escaped grenade thrower) genuinely believe they(as do many, many others) are justifiably, morally and legally attempting to remove the occupation forces, which includes Canada, from Afghanistan .
What do you think?
CANADIAN PRESS
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An attack initially described as a gun battle that wounded a Canadian soldier was actually a bizarre axe-and-grenade ambush, military officials said today.
Lieut. Trevor Greene of Vancouver was sitting down for a meeting with village elders this afternoon when a man struck him in the back of the head with an axe.
“We would classify it as absolutely cowardly, a maniac I guess is safe to say,” said Col. Tom Putt, the deputy commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
Moments after Canadian soldiers gunned down the attacker, a second assailant tossed a grenade. Afghan forces shot at the man, who escaped.
Earlier, a military official in Ottawa said gunfire was exchanged in the attack.
Putt said Greene had taken off his helmet out of respect for gathered elders when he was hit.
“His security force killed the assailant immediately after the attack,” Putt said.
In the ensuing melee, a grenade was tossed at Canadian forces “to no effect,” Putt said. He did not know if the grenade went off.
Afghan soldiers shot at the second attacker. Putt said soldiers believe the man was hit, but he escaped.
Greene was evacuated by a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter to a Canadian-run hospital. When he arrived, his uniform had been cut away from his upper body and a bandage was visible on his head.
Greene emerged from surgery this afternoon in serious condition.
He was also wounded lightly in a bomb attack earlier this year.
Putt said soldiers believe the attackers were not part of the meeting, but were lingering nearby when they struck.
“When there is agreement there will be a (meeting), the host offers security and you can come into a group and be protected by those people,” Putt said.
He said hundreds of these meetings, known as shura, have gone off without a problem.
The area is a hotbed of anti-government activity. The small encampment surrounded by farmers’ fields has previously come under rocket attack and several U.S. soldiers died in the area last year.
“The area in question has been one of the transit routes for some time for the Taliban,” Putt said.
Greene, a reservist with the Seaforth Highlanders, is an author and journalist based in Vancouver, when he’s not working with the military co-ordinating projects with local authorities.
Greene has written a book about the missing women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
It’s the second injury in Afghanistan for Greene, who suffered whiplash in February when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb.
The attack comes as Canadian troops face increasing attacks in the restive Kandahar region.
I am sure the attackers(the now dead hatchet man, and the escaped grenade thrower) genuinely believe they(as do many, many others) are justifiably, morally and legally attempting to remove the occupation forces, which includes Canada, from Afghanistan .
What do you think?
