KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Canadian soldier on his fourth tour of Afghanistan has become the latest victim of the war against the Taliban.
Sgt. James MacNeil, 28, of Glace Bay, N.S., was killed by an improvised explosive device Monday morning near the village of Nakhonay after he had dismounted from his armoured vehicle.
It’s the second straight Canadian death in Nakhonay, about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
“He was serving on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan,” said Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, commander of Task Force Kandahar, as he stood in front of the cenotaph at Kandahar Air Field.
“Sgt. MacNeil was killed by the detonation of an improvised explosive device while on a joint foot patrol with the Afghan National Army near the village of Nakhonay.”
Nakhonay is in the Panjwaii district which is known as the birthplace of the Taliban. It has been a bloody battleground for Canadian troops since they arrived in Kandahar province in strength four years ago.
Dozens of Canadians have been killed or wounded in the restive district. While villages and towns have been repeatedly cleared, the Taliban have quietly reasserted themselves in parts of the region.
IEDs have been the single biggest cause of death among Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Eight out of the 10 Canadian deaths this year were the result of an IED blast. In all, 89 of the 148 Canadian fatalities in the eight-year-old Afghan mission came about from IEDs — which include roadside bombs and some other type of explosives, according to the Department of Defence.
Two civilians — diplomat Glyn Berry and journalist Michelle Lang — have also been killed in Canada’s mission to Afghanistan.
We have to keep taking the fight to the Taliban, let them know that the people of Afghanistan and Coalition Forces supporting the Afghan National Army have freedom of movement and are not afraid of the Taliban, or afraid of their cowardly tactics. By virtue of Coalition Forces being there, all other methods of negotiation have failed with these cowards.