Posted on 07/02/2002 3:34:55 AM PDT by Clive
QALAT, Afghanistan (CP) -- Canadian soldiers descended upon unexplored Afghan territory in the early hours of Canada Day in an ambitious terrorist hunt unlike any the coalition here has mounted to date.
More than 50 vehicles -- including the Canadian Coyotes reconnaissance vehicles in their first opportunity to participate in an offensive combat operation here -- snaked upon crumbled and sandy roads on the bone- rattling nine-hour trip from Kandahar to Qalat in the Zabul province bordering Pakistan.
Just a few hours later, at first light Monday, the Coyotes were on their way to a rendezvous with American Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters carrying dozens of Canadian soldiers of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group to the edge of a mountain north of here.
It is the first combat mission the Canadians have participated in since May, the last time that it was their turn to be on call for any operations the U.S.-commanded effort in the area requires.
The aim of the new complex mission, dubbed Operation Cherokee Sky, is to sweep a province which like other Afghan regions bordering Pakistan is reputed to be a transit point for former Taliban and members of the al-Qaida terrorist network who have fled Afghanistan. The operation continues.
The U.S.-led anti-terrorist effort has yet to closely inspect this region for possible terrorists. The challenge is that while the coalition is convinced there's a "considerable threat" of unseemly elements in the province, there was little intelligence available on the nature and size of that threat as the Canadian troops headed into the region.
"This is a uniquely Canadian operation in a unique environment -- on Canada Day," commanding officer Lt. Col. Pat Stogran said at the bottom of one of the hills his soldiers were to sweep later Monday morning.
"This is the first time to my knowledge that any conventional forces have operated in this area."
The operation began Sunday afternoon, when dozens of vehicles filed out of Kandahar airfield embarking on a trip that took three times longer than expected to complete.
The delays began just minutes into the trip when the brakes of a trailer carrying gasoline caught fire. There were no injuries, but the convoy was held up until military police came out from Kandahar airfield to secure the trailer.
The convoy was also hampered by vehicles straining against non- existent roads -- which variously alternated between pockmarked concrete and sandy, rutted routes riddled with bombed out vehicles left over from another war.
Much later that night, the Canadian and American vehicles lined up with their headlights out just outside the gates to Qalat as word was carried to the governor that the Canadians had arrived.
Gov. Khan welcomed Stogran and his offer of humanitarian aid, and allowed the Canadian contingent to set up base inside a key fort looking over the city of more than 40,000 people -- a fort once held by the formerly ruling Taliban as well as the Russians who invaded the country two decades ago.
After barely any sleep, soldiers revved up their vehicles for another drive to help secure landing of the troops coming in by helicopter early Canada Day.
Canadian soldiers in their green uniforms and faced painted black landed with their heavy gear and several litres of water to beat temperatures reaching well into the 40s on a tough climb up the mountains.
The soldiers were split up by platoons, some of which hiked up the steep mountains and others remained to provide security.
One of them inspected some caves that were suspected, upon a previous look by reconnaissance troops, of being hideouts and of possibly holding weapons caches.
Another walked along a goat-track which took them into a narrow canyon in which the reccies had found three other caves of interest.
After hours in the searing sun, searching and then waiting to leave the area, the soldiers had not turned up anything in terms of weapons or intelligence.
Maj. Michael Blackburn, Bravo company's commander, said despite coming up empty handed, the caves had to be searched.
"You've got to follow up every bit of information you get for fear of missing anything," Blackburn said.
"One mine, one missile site, one machine-gun can be catastrophic if you miss it." The operation is ongoing, but no further details can be released due to security concerns.
This is the third mission led by Canadian troops stationed in Kandahar to aid the U.S. anti-terrorist effort in Afghanistan. It is the largest of the three and involved the largest number of elements from the battle group stationed here.
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