Canadian military officials called Operation Keeping Goodwill a success, with two Canadian soldiers suffering only minor injuries on Sunday -- Day 2 of a major combat offensive against insurgents in Zhari district, west of Kandahar City.
The soldiers, who were on foot at the time, were hit by shrapnel in a bomb blast. Officials said a Leopard 1 tank with a mine-detecting roller had been advancing along a road, CTV's Steve Chao reported from Kandahar.
"The tank struck a landmine and the shrapnel pierced two Canadian soldiers. We understand they are superficial wounds and they will be back to work shortly," he said.
Later on in the day, Canadian Press reporter Dene Moore was travelling in a car with several soldiers when another roadside bomb occurred. Moore said the charge wasn't big enough to penetrate the car, though the impact of the blast caused one of the soldiers to be thrown forward. The reporter and soldiers were shaken up, but were not injured.
Operation Keeping Goodwill involved most of the Canadian battle group, with Afghan troops in the lead and American air power overhead.
The operation lasted about 36 hours. The mission was designed to reassert control over the volatile district, where major clashes have been fought in the past against Taliban insurgents.
"They took hold of this land, but the Afghan police as well as the Afghan army were unable to hold this ground, and the Taliban simply reinfiltrated," Chao told Question Period earlier on Sunday.
"There's also an understanding that this is what you face in a counterinsurgency. One commander gave this analogy that it's like punching at flies."
Canada wants to hold the ground by training the Afghan police how to keep the area secure, he said, noting there have been problems of corruption within the Afghan police and defections to the Taliban.
Afghan National Army soldiers took the lead in the operation. Canadian commanders say NATO forces are here to support the Afghan government.
"During any operation, the first person that Afghan villagers should see is Afghans themselves," Chao said.
Over the remainder of the Kandahar mission, which will expire in February 2009 if not extended, Chao said the mission will likely evolve more into a training and mentoring role for Canadian forces.
This is already happening, he said, noting that 60 military mentors were training Afghans last December. That number is now up to 130.
Roadside bombs remain deadliest threat
Though there were no major casualties a result of the mission, roadside bombs, known more formally as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, are the deadliest threat that Canadian soldiers face in Afghanistan.
In an analysis done by the Globe and Mail in July, IEDs accounted for 26 of 66 Canadian military deaths in Afghanistan. However, 19 of those came in 2007. In comparison, one soldier died in combat.
Since that analysis was done, four more Canadian soldiers have died. Three died as a result of IED blasts, and one in a mysterious firearms incident in his barracks in Kabul.
Chao said the Canadian military is spending tens of millions of dollars to acquire a new system for detecting IEDs.
The three vehicles "will detect, disarm and remove landmines that are found on roads or fields or wherever Canadian troops may be operating," he said.
The vehicles have proven effective in Iraq. U.S. troops there believe they have saved lives, he said.
Canadians have borrowed these vehicles from Americans in Afghanistan, he said. Chao said Canadian commanders tell him that no detection system can be 100 per cent effective.
