Canadian soldiers fought a fierce battle against the Taliban on Tuesday for the second day in a row, alongside soldiers from the Afghan National Army.
In Nalgham, about 35 kilometres south-west of Kandahar city, members of Hotel company made their way over mud walls and through waist-high water, as militants shot at them with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire.
The company's commander, Maj. Alex Ruff, told Â鶹´«Ã½ the battle has gone well.
"Well, so far, and keep your fingers crossed, we haven't lost anybody and there are a lot less Taliban running around," he said.
Initial estimates suggested 23 militants were killed in the firefight.
But Ruff has reason to be cautious. On April 8, he lost six soldiers to an improvised explosive device: Cpl. Brent Poland, Master Cpl. Christopher Stannix, Sgt. Don Lucas, Cpl. Aaron Williams, Pte. Kevin Kennedy and Pte. David Greenslade.
Soldiers are trying to train Afghan troops so they can eventually take up the war against the Taliban, allowing Canadians to focus on a supporting role when engaging the enemy.
On Tuesday, Afghan army members fought on the front line in Nalgham, using similar weapons as the Taliban and with the same expert knowledge of the landscape.
The Taliban are now using poppy fields to their advantage. It's near the end of Afghanistan's poppy harvesting season, and insurgents are using the long stems to hide from coalition forces.
But Canadian soldiers, far better trained, are using the Taliban's tactics against them.
"The Taliban like to just pop their heads up and take random shots when they know you're in the area," said Pte. Rob Spencer.
"But we're trained to take aimed shots to hit them. It's more effective."
The troops were first ambushed by militants on Monday near Howz-e-Madad, just north of Nalgham.
Engineers detonate road-side bomb
Canadian military engineers close to the Pakistan border detonated an IED Tuesday, away from a road in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.
The location of the bomb suggested militants may have been interrupted before they could place it on the road, or wanted to study Canadian tactics.
"I'd have to say it was something that was in progress," section commander Sgt. Dave Camp told The Canadian Press.
"It's an awful waste of valuable resources on their part to just let it go for the sake of watching us ... it was the start of something."
Engineers used one of their own explosive devices to detonate the bomb, leaving behind a blackened crater and bits of rubble.
Roadside bombs made by the Taliban have shown a marked decline in sophistication over the last month, suggesting resources have declined after skirmishes with coalition forces.
With a report by CTV's Lisa LaFlamme in Nalgham, Afghanistan and files from The Canadian Press
