Two stories: the first, a Radio-Canada reporter lives through a mine hit, with his escort "lucky" enough to only lose his leg. Second, U.S. bombers kill three British troops by mistake in Helmand. They called in an airstrike, and when it came it bombed them. Add this to the insults by U.S. military and the neocons regarding British withdrawal from Basra, and British public opinion is taking a dramatic turn.
Aug 24, 2007 04:30 AMRadio-Canada reporter Patrice Roy was sitting beside Canadian Forces medic Christian Duchesne when the armoured vehicle they were riding in hit a road mine near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Duchesne and a second soldier, Mario Mercier, were killed, as well as an Afghan interpreter. Roy suffered only shock but his cameraman, Charles Dubois, was seriously wounded and had his leg amputated below the knee.
Roy yesterday relived the horrifying experience in an interview, translated here from French, with a CBC radio reporter:
Roy: We left very early in the morning with a company whose mission was to take a mountain, or re-take a mountain. It was 16 kilometres between there and our departure point.
We were told it would be pretty light going, that they didn't think the Taliban would be listening.
But we quickly noticed that the operation would be a lot more complicated.
The Taliban started firing rockets all over the place, not directly at our vehicle because we were following behind, but at the ones ahead. So for 13 hours we drove around a village in the LAV3; we were near the mountain but couldn't go up.
And Charles Dubois, our cameraman who was injured, took some extraordinary pictures of that operation because, from our vantage point, we could see everything in relative security.
Toward the end of the day, after 13 hours, they decided to go up to the post they were supposed to reach – the target – and it's while we were climbing up the last bend on the mountain that there was a flash, a massive shock, in the LAV3.
When I came to, my cameraman Charles was beside me in a great deal of pain, and the others had been ejected.
The vehicle, the back of the vehicle, was completely smashed. Obviously there was a first aid operation set up, etcetera. It was quite difficult. Then we were evacuated ... to the base at Kandahar, where Charles was treated. And now we're leaving in a few hours for Germany, to the hospital there, and then to Canada.
Brooks Decillia (CBC reporter): Before you went up that hill, how would you characterize the battle? Tell me about that.
Roy: I'm not a soldier but I think that, even by military standards, it was a major battle.
They weren't expecting it to be that major, in the area where we were there was no expectation we would come under so much fire. The Taliban were attacking with small arms, with rockets.
Anything that lasts 13 hours is quite long ... We stayed in a four-square-kilometre area for four or five hours to take positions where the mines could be cleared, because mines are the biggest danger.
And the soldiers had de-mining equipment working ahead of us to remove the mines, but clearly the machine missed one.
But it was a major engagement, it was the first significant operation for the (Royal) 22nd (Regiment), there had been patrols beforehand, in the last month, but this was an operation, what they called a show of force in a region that had been completely overtaken by the Taliban.
The Canadians were there a year ago, they left, and they said we should go back ... It's difficult to imagine how all that area could have been secured even in a year because all the Canadian tanks that go there are attacked whether there's eight, one or two.
Decillia: Describe the moments leading up to the explosion and then what happened.
Roy: We were arriving. Charles and I were extraordinarily tired, we hadn't slept the night before because we had travelled by night and I was writing a little stand-up (report) because we had built the story as a visual summary of the previous 48 hours.
So in those hours I was taking notes about what was happening, and at that point I was writing the conclusion and I was reading it out loud, changing a word here and there.
At the moment when I leaned my head down and scratched out a word, there was a flash, a tremendous noise, it was a flash, and then we found ourselves – I'm not even sure I lost consciousness, but anyway, what's certain is that, once again, the force of the explosion was massive.
We think maybe they put two or three mines there because LAV3s are vehicles that we were told are very robust.
It was a shock. It's rare to find people who have encountered that, and people said, military people who know, like, first aid people, ambulance attendants, told me you'll see, you'll have more control than you expect.
For about 15 minutes you become almost insensible.
I wanted to look after Charles, the soldiers. They started first aid, and all that mattered was to get out of there fast.
I was quite anxious because I was thinking `We're civilians, and the first people they'll evacuate are the soldiers, not us, not Charles.'
Except that the soldiers' misfortune was lucky for us in a way, because they died on the spot and there were two injured people left, a soldier and Charles.
So we were evacuated by the first American helicopter.
Decillia: What did you see after the explosion?
Roy: I saw the LAV completely cut open. I saw people below, I saw panic, obviously, people were screaming. I heard screams everywhere. ... I saw Charles who had blood and, fortunately, it was only his leg.
Although we can say that we were caught up in this extraordinary mishap, and even though we're conscious of the risks we run in theatre, we were relatively lucky; in my case, obviously very lucky.
Decillia: What's going through your mind?
Roy: Nothing ... I was focused on trying to get help.
I was concerned they might not help us as much because we're civilians, but in the end they helped us. ... Afterward, in the helicopter, when we got back, I thought `We could have stepped on another mine, we could have... . But that was after.
It was almost like we were in an altered state, I imagine it was the adrenaline, I don't know.
But I have to tell you, when I saw the American helicopter arrive, it's `Phew, let's get out of here.'
Decillia: Your family, what did you tell them. ...
Roy: Well, first I reassured my wife. I was afraid of rumours, you know how it is.
Rumours start flying right and left. Some thought I was dead. ... when you go to Afghanistan, even when nothing's happening, you know, you're reporting here, people are worried about you, they wonder a bit `Why did he go?'
So, if in addition to that a mine explodes, it's the proof that they were right (to be worried) and the proof that it's true that it's dangerous to cover a war, and Charles and I knew it.
It was the fourth time Charles had been here. He's an unbelievable cameraman who is strong, who knows where to go, who doesn't take risks.
He was very unlucky but ... it's a mix of `Wouldn't we be better off to stay in the camp and wait for news from the front and report it as best we can?' This is not a traditional war – mines, there's nothing more treacherous in the world than a landmine.
We knew the Taliban were shooting at us, and (the military) set it up in such a way we weren't exposed in our vehicle, but nobody can do anything about a mine.
Three British troops killed by "friendly fire":
Three British soldiers have died in what appears to have been a friendly fire explosion in Helmand
Three British soldiers were killed by a bomb dropped on their position by a US war plane during fierce fighting in Afghanistan, it was confirmed today.
At least two other men from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment were injured in the friendly fire incident. One of these was described as critically ill.
The 60-strong foot patrol had called in air support after they came under intense attack from Taliban insurgents in Helmand province yesterday evening.
The MoD said the men were killed by a "single bomb" dropped from one of two US F15 aircraft called to help repel the enemy. A statement said: "Their patrol was attacked and during the intense engagement that ensued, close air support was called in from two US F15 aircraft.
"A single bomb was dropped and it is believed the explosion killed all three soldiers who were declared dead at the scene."
The injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to the medical facility at Camp Bastion, the UK headquarters, for treatment.
The next of kin have been informed, the MoD said, adding the incident was one of "profound sadness." Officials said an investigation is now under way. The deaths take the toll of British dead in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001 to 73. There have been 11 deaths in the last two months during increasingly heavy fighting.
In March 2003 Lance Corporal Matty Hull was killed and three other British soldiers injured when a US plane fired on them by mistake despite their vehicles being clearly marked.
Yesterday's "fighting patrol" was intended to disrupt Taliban activity and reassure local residents north west of Kajaki in Helmund, they called for air support. A bomb was dropped and unfortunately three of our guys were killed," said a source.
The MoD said: "It was an airstrike which British soldiers called in and what went wrong will be subject to an investigation."
A spokesman said that there well- rehearsed systems between the allies to try to prevent friendly fire incidents.
"There's a raft of mechanism in place to try to prevent these things. But these are daily occurances and these air strikes have saved the lives of countless British soldiers. In combat nothing is 100 per cent fool proof," he said.
The troops were part of an operation to secure the Kajaki damn - described by the military as one of the most strategically important sights in Southern Afghanistan.
British forces and engineers are trying to repair the hydroelectric damn so it can provide power for the Helmand province.
"Our troops have been working for some time to secure the area around the damn," said the MoD.
The 500-strong Ist Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, known as the "Vikings", have been deployed on their current stint of duty in Helmand since April. They are due to return to the UK in October.
The regiment last year set up a memorial fund to provide a permanent tribute to those who had already died. They are part of 12 Mechanised Brigade's deployment and have responsibility for the northern sector of the Helmand, which over the last year has seen some of the fiercest fighting with the Taliban. The Vikings defend key locations from attack such as the important town of Sangin, the merchant town of Nowzad and the strategically important hydroelectric dam at Kajaki.
No comments:
Post a Comment