 | | CREDIT: AP Photo/Fraidoon Pooyaa | | An Italian International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier walks towards the shows which remained at the bomb explosion site near Heart airport, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. | |
HOWZ-E MADAD, Afghanistan �?A Canadian platoon on Thursday came under rocket attack in this tiny village where the soldiers were delivering aid.
Two 107-millimetre rockets landed beside a defensive position established by Charles Company, Royal Canadian Regiment, just south of Howz-e Madad. There were no casualties.
Soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) immediately opened fire in the direction from where the rockets were launched, and it is not known if any Taliban were hit.
This is the first exchange of fire between Canadian and Afghan forces and the Taliban since the NATO-led Operation Baaz Tsuka got underway last Friday.
The Canadian position is approximately one kilometre north of a fortress-like agrarian compound housing as many as 35 Taliban fighters.
The Taliban facility was discovered earlier Thursday by ANA and Canadian soldiers conducting a reconnaissance patrol.
Taliban fighters assumed defensive positions as ANA and Canadian soldiers approached but did not return their fire.
NATO aircraft were then called in to bomb the compound but the mission was scrubbed at the last moment when soldiers determined the Taliban had gathered women and children around them and were using them as human shields.
Less than two hours later, as night fell, the Taliban fired their rockets.
The attacked came as soldiers from Charles Company had crawled into their sleeping bags for some rest.
The Canadians reacted quickly, grabbing their rifles and donning flak jackets and helmets, as ANA soldiers a few metres away opened fire.
The volleys continued for about half an hour, but there was no return fire.
Operation Baaz Tsuka’s primary objective is to distribute aid to residents of Howz-e Madad, a small farming community 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
There are, however, as many as 900 Taliban fighters situated directly south of the village.
The aid portion of the operation was completed earlier in the day after a slow start. Rolling into Howz-e Madad in a series of large convoys the Canadians had no resistance from the local population. Residents seemed eager to accept of offers material assistance and equipment, which included farm implements.
Approximately $50,000 dollars in cash was also distributed to the local population.
But the effort was delayed for several hours while elders gathered for a shira or a traditional meeting.
Containers with material goods were slow to arrive but were distributed by day’s end.
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