155 Canadian soldiers, one Canadian reporter, one diplomat and two aid workers have been killed since the Canadian military deployed to Afghanistan in early 2002.
2011
March 27: Cpl. Yannick Scherrer, 24, of the 1st battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, was killed by an improvised explosive device during a foot patrol in Nakhonay, a notorious area of the Panjwaii district that has claimed many Canadian lives. Scherrer, from Montreal, was on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan.
2010
December 18: Cpl. Steve Martin of the 3rd battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, was killed around 12:30 p.m. local time while on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar City. Martin, from St-Cyrille-de-Wendover in Quebec, was serving with the 1st battalion battle group, and was just two days away from his 25th birthday.
November 26: Capt. Francis (Frank) Cecil Paul, a member of 28 Field Ambulance in Ottawa, died Feb. 10 in Canada of natural causes while on leave from duty in Kandahar. His name has been added to the official casualty list that includes the names of military personnel who passed away while supporting the Afghan mission. After his death, Paul was awarded the sacrifice medal and his name was added to the seventh book of remembrance. The Memorial Cross was also presented to his family.
August 30: Cpl. Brian Pinksen, 21, was walking a short distance between two Canadian combat outposts on August 22 in the village of Nakhonay, 18 kilometres south west of Kandahar City, when an improvised explosive device planted by insurgents was detonated, wounding the soldier and one of his fellow servicemen. Pinksen was flown into a German hospital three days after being injured, and later succumbed to his injuries. Pinksen was from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment, based in Corner Brook, and served with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.
July 20: Sapper Brian Collier, 24, was killed by a homemade landmine while on a foot patrol, near Nakhonay, in eastern Panjwaii District, just southwest of Kandahar City. It has been a particularly dangerous area for the Canadian force since moving many of its troops there to live among villagers late last year. The Bradford, Ont. native, with the 1 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Edmonton, was two months into his first tour in Afghanistan at the time. Collier was a good combat engineer who "quickly became known by his peers and superiors for his devotion, his enthusiasm and his technical abilities."
June 26: Pte. Andrew Miller, 21, of Sudbury, Ont., died after an armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while responding to a report of a bomb in the doorway of a local home. Miller was from 2 Canadian Field Ambulance in Petawawa, Ont. Miller is survived by his mother, Wendy Miller; his father, Raymond Ealdama, two sisters, a brother, and his girlfriend.
June 26: Master Cpl. Kristal Giesebrecht, 34, of Wallaceburg, Ont., died after an armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while responding to a report of a bomb in the doorway of a local home. Giesebrecht, who was from the 1 Canadian Field Hospital in Petawawa, Ont, was married and on her second tour of Afghanistan. Her husband Matt, recalled how much she loved to party. The pair met in 1996 and married in 2001.
June 21: Sgt. James Macneil of Glace Bay, N.S., was killed while on a foot patrol in Nakhoney, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar. Macneil was a combat engineer with 2 Combat Engineer Regiment of CFB Petawawa, Ont. A 10-year army veteran, the 28-year-old Cape Bretoner was two months into his fourth tour in Afghanistan. The sapper, who was known to his comrades and friends as "Jimmy," was patrolling with other members of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group in Panjwaii District, when he was killed by an improvised explosive device – a homemade landmine.
June 6: Sgt. Martin Goudreault, of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in Edmonton, died when he was killed by a homemade landmine while on a foot patrol about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. Goudreault, who was known as Marty to his friends, was from Sudbury, Ont., and had just begun his third tour in Afghanistan. Goudreault’s patrol had earlier been searching for weapon caches in a remote part of Panjwaii District, which was controlled by the Taliban until Canadian Forces cleared the area of insurgents and began living among the population there several months ago.
May 24: Trooper Larry Rudd, 26, of the Royal Canadian Dragoons – who was described Monday as “a gentle giant” – died when the armoured vehicle he was travelling in struck a makeshift landmine during a combat resupply of other Canadian troops in Panjwaii District – southwest of Kandahar City. The Brantford, Ont., native’s squadron was in the first weeks of its seven month tour in Afghanistan.
May 18: Col. Geoff Parker of the Royal Canadian Regiment was traveling in a convoy of three SUVs with U.S. troops when a suicide bomber driving a mini-van with nearly a ton of explosives packed inside swerved into them. Five American soldiers also died in the attack that killed the 42-year-old infantry officer, who was on a "recce" visit to Kabul before taking up an assignment there. Parker was from Oakville, Ont.
May 13: Pte. Kevin Thomas McKay, 24, of the Alberta-based 1st battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was killed by a homemade landmine Thursday while on a night patrol near the village of Nakhoney, 15 southwest of Kandahar City, in an area that the Canadians had taken from the Taliban several months ago. "Mickey" McKay after nearly seven months in-country the young infantryman from Richmond Hill, Ont., was only to patrol for two more days "outside the wire." McKay, who was on his first tour in Afghanistan, was described to mourners as an avid hockey player, cook, camper and fisherman who had a cabin in northern Ontario.
May 03: Petty Officer Second Class Craig Blake, 37, had been on foot with other members of his explosives-disposal team, a few hundred metres from the gate of the Sperwan Ghar base in Panjwaii district. Blast investigators determined that the IED was "command detonated," meaning it was set off by a watching insurgent. Two other Canadian soldiers were injured, one very seriously, in the IED attack. Blake of Simcoe, Ont., arrived in Afghanistan last month for his first tour of duty in the country. As an explosives-disposal operator, he was tasked with defusing IEDs. A competitive triathlete and pee wee hockey coach, Blake was a married father of two.
Apr. 11: Pte. Tyler William Todd, 26, was on a foot patrol when he was killed by improvised-explosive device (IED) blast in Dand district of Afghanistan. He was on his first tour in Afghanistan, after serving in the army since 2007, Todd had the perilous job of driving a light-armoured vehicle on southern Afghanistan’s IED-ridden routes. Todd was born in Kitchener, Ont. and was posted in Edmonton with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was patrolling in Belanday village when the IED exploded. Another soldier was also wounded, who watched the ramp ceremony from a wheelchair beside the plane that would fly Todd’s body toward home.
Mar. 20: Cpl. Darren James Fitzpatrick, 21, was on patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers in the Zhari district of southern Afghanistan on March 6 when he was injured by the bomb. Fitzpatrick, a member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was on his first tour of Afghanistan since he joined the Canadian Forces in 2006. Since October, he had served with the Operational Mentor Liaison Team, which helps train members of the Afghan National Army. Fitzpatrick was from Prince George, B.C. He is the second soldier to die in Canada from injuries suffered in Afghanistan.
Feb. 13: Cpl. Joshua Caleb Baker, 24, died in an explosion during a ‘routine’ training exercise at a range four kilometres north of Kandahar City. The death of the reservist with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment is the first time in eight years that a Canadian has been killed during a training accident in Afghanistan. Most of those who have died have been killed by improvised explosive devices. Baker is the ninth reservist to die in active duty in Afghanistan. The military was particularly tight-lipped about the death, which is being probed by senior officials. Four other Canadian soldiers were also injured in the accident. Friends in Canada said Baker was planning to become a police officer after his tour in Afghanistan. He had recently applied to the Edmonton police and was also considering applying in Toronto, friends said.
Jan. 10: Sgt. John Wayne Faught, 44, stepped on a homemade landmine while leading his section on a joint foot patrol with Afghan army troops, near the village of Nakhoney in Panjwaii District,about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City, which Canadian forces seized from Taliban-control without a fight late last year. He was from the Edmonton-based 1 Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. ‘A career soldier’ and ‘family man’ from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., became the first Canadian killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010. He was on his third tour in Afghanistan and was due to return home in June. Faught, has also served in Bosnia during his 23 years in the military. Faught left behind his mother, Donna, a sister in Toronto and a girlfriend in Thunder Bay, Ont.
2009
Dec. 30: Sgt. George Miok, 28, was killed when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device four kilometres south of Kandahar City. Miok was a member of 41 Combat Engineer Regiment and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team. Four other Canadian soldiers were also killed along with Canwest News Service journalist Michelle Lang. Miok, the Edmonton-based reservist was also a teacher who had spent the 2008-09 school year at St. Cecilia’s Junior High School in Edmonton. In addition to his duties as a reservist, he also bartended at the Rose and Crown, a downtown Edmonton pub.
Dec. 30: Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, was killed when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device four kilometres south of Kandahar City. Taylor, based in Yarmouth, N.S., was known as “Sgt. Morale” because of his sense of humour and calm demeanour. Taylor was the first member of the 84 Independent Field Battery to die in combat in at least 40 years. Four other Canadian soldiers were also killed along with Canwest News Service journalist Michelle Lang.
Dec. 30: Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, was killed when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device four kilometres south of Kandahar City. He was a member of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, 4th Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team. McCormack, based in Edmonton, was remembered as a team player who was passionate about his family and looking forward to soon marrying his fiancee. Four other Canadian soldiers were also killed along with Canwest News Service journalist Michelle Lang.
Dec. 30: Pte. Garrett William Chidley, 21, was killed when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device four kilometres south of Kandahar City. Four other Canadian soldiers were also killed along with Canwest News Service journalist Michelle Lang. Chidley, born in Cambridge, Ont., and raised in Langley, B.C., could always beat his friends and fellow soldiers at video games. Chidley was deployed to Afghanistan in September and it was his first deployment abroad.
Dec. 23: Lt. Andrew Richard Nuttall, 30, died when an improvised explosive device detonated as he led a foot patrol in the dangerous Panjwaii district southwest of Kandahar City. An Afghan National Army soldier was killed in the blast and an Afghan interpreter was injured. The former University of Victoria student left for Afghanistan in October for a six-month tour with the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. This was his first tour of duty in Afghanistan since joining the military in 2007.
Oct. 30: Sapper Steven Marshall, 24, had been in Afghanistan less than one week in what was to have been a six-month tour, when he died while on patrol in Panjwaii District about 10 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. Marshall was a combat engineer with the 11th Field Squadron, 1st Combat Engineer Regiment. The unit is attached to the Edmonton-based 1 Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry battle group, which only took over from the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment two weeks ago. No other Canadians were wounded in the incident.
Oct. 28: Lt. Justin Garrett Boyes, 26, of Saskatchewan, was killed by a homemade bomb planted while on a morning foot patrol with Afghan National Police about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. The infantryman was from the Edmonton-based, 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Two other Canadians were wounded in the explosion, but have been listed in good condition.
Sept. 17: Pte. Jonathan Couturier, 23, was killed when a Canadian armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City in Panjwaii district. Eleven other soldiers suffered slight injuries. Couturier was a member of the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment. He was born in Loretteville, just outside Quebec City. He left for Afghanistan in April 2009 for his first tour of duty abroad.
Sept. 13: Pte. Patrick Lormand, 21, was killed when a Canadian armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. Four other Canadian soldiers received minor injuries in the blast, and were treated and released from hospital. Lormand – known as ‘Lorm’ to his buddies – was a member of the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment Battle Group based in Valcartier, Que.
Sept. 6: Corporal Jean-Francois Drouin, 31, of Quebec City, was killed along with a second soldier, Major Yannick Pepin, 36, when their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. Drouin and his battalion were finishing up a six-moth tour, where their duty was to seek out and defuse roadside bombs. Five other soldiers were injured in the blast, and their condition was described as not serious.
Sept. 6: Major Yannick Pepin, 36, of Victoriaville, Quebec, and a second soldier, Corporal Jean-Francois Drouin, 31, were killed when their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. Drouin and his battalion were finishing up a six-moth tour, where their duty was to seek out and defuse roadside bombs. Pepin was the most senior-ranked officer to die in combat in Afghanistan. Five other soldiers were injured in the blast.
Aug 1: Sapper Matthieu Allard, 21, died when an improvised explosive device blew up Saturday as they investigated another IED in Senjaray, a village located approximately 30 kilometres west of Kandahar City with a heavy Taliban presence. Allard was a combat engineer, served with the 5th Combat Engineers Regiment from Valcartier, Que. It is attached to the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment battle group, which was into the fifth month of a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Another Canadian soldier, Cpl. Christian Bobbitt, 23, also died in the same incident.
Aug 1: Cpl. Christian Bobbitt, 23, died when an improvised explosive device blew up Saturday as they investigated another IED in Senjaray, a village located approximately 30 kilometres west of Kandahar City with a heavy Taliban presence. Allard was a combat engineer, served with the 5th Combat Engineers Regiment from Valcartier, Que. It is attached to the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment battle group, which was into the fifth month of a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Another Canadian soldier, Sapper Matthieu Allard, 21, also died in the same incident.
July 16: Pte. Sebastien Courcy, 26, based in CFB Valcariter, Quebec, north of Quebec City, died when he stepped in an explosive device and then fell off a cliff. Courcy was taking part in a three-day effort designed to clear the area of Taliban bomb-making facilities. He had joined the military in 2006 and was on his first deployment.
July 6: Cpl. Martin Joannette, 25, based in Valcartier, Quebec, was killed in Griffin helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Military officials ruled out enemy fire, suggesting human error or mechanical failure. A second Canadian soldier, Master Cpl. Paul Audet, 38, and a British soldier were also killed.
July 6: Master Cpl. Paul Audet, 38, based in Valcartier, Quebec, was killed in Griffin helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Military officials ruled out enemy fire, suggesting human error or mechanical failure. A second Canadian soldier, Cpl. Martin Joannette, 25, and a British soldier were also killed.
July 4: Master Cpl. Charles-Philippe Michaud, 28, a native of Edmundston, N.B., died after sustaining injuries in a roadside bomb blast on June 23, 2009. He never regained consciousness and dies in Quebec City. He was serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment, also known as the Van Doos and was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
July 3: Cpl. Nicholas Bulger, 30, hailed from Peterborough, Ont., and was with the Edmonton-based 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He was in a convoy which was transporting Canada’s top soldier in Afghanistan when it hit a roadside bomb, killing him and injuring five others.
June 14: Cpl. Martin Dube, 35, was a member of the 5e Regiment du Genie de Combat, combat engineers based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier near Quebec City. He was serving as a member of the Joint Task Force Headquarters. He died while trying to defuse an improvised explosive device planted by insurgents, which according to reports was in a culvert beneath a roadway about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
June 08: Pte. Alexandre Peloquin, 20, a member of 3rd battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment Battle Group, was serving with the 2nd battalion of the Quebec-based regiment in the volatile Panjwaii District. He was on a foot patrol when an explosive device detonated in a hotbed of insurgency south-west of Kandahar City.
April 23: Maj. Michelle Mendes, 30, with Canada’s Task Force Kandahar headquarters, based in Ottawa, died from a non-battle injury that did not involve enemy action.
April 13: Trooper Karine Blais, 21, with the 12th Armoured Regiment based in Val Cartier, Que., was killed in action when her vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb.
March 20: Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, and Pte. Tyler Crooks of 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, died when they were hit by an IED while on a foot patrol in western Zahri District as part of Operation Jaley. An Afghan interpreter was also killed. Five other soldiers from November Company were wounded as was another Afghan interpreter. About two hours later, Trooper Jack Bouthillier and Trooper Corey Hayes from a reconnaissance squadron of the Petawawa-based Royal Canadian Dragoons died when their armoured vehicle struck an IED in Shah Wali Khot District about 20 kilometres northeast of Kandahar. Three other Dragoons were wounded in the same blast.
March 8: Trooper Marc Diab, 22, with the Royal Canadian Dragoons based in Petawawa was killed by a roadside bomb north of Kandahar City.
March 3: Warrant Officer Dennis Raymond Brown, a reservist from The Lincoln and Welland Regiment, based in St. Catharines, Ont., Cpl. Dany Olivier Fortin from the 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at 3 Wing, based in Bagotville, Que., and Cpl. Kenneth Chad O’Quinn, from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, in Petawawa, Ont., were killed when an IED detonated near their armoured vehicle northwest of Kandahar.
Jan. 31: Sapper Sean Greenfield, 25, was killed when and IED hit his armoured vehicle while driving in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar. He was with the 2 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Petawawa.
Jan. 7: Trooper Brian Richard Good, 42, died when the armoured vehicle he was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive devise, or IED. Three other soldiers were injured in the blast, which occurred around 8 a.m. in the Shahwali Kot district, about 35 kilometres north of Kandahar City.
2008
Dec. 27: Warrant Officer Gaetan Joseph Maxime Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse died in a bomb blast while they were conducting a security patrol in the Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar City. Their Afghan interpreter and a member of the Afghan National Army were also killed. Three other Canadian soldiers were injured in the blast.
Dec. 26: Pte. Michael Bruce Freeman, 28, was killed after his armoured vehicle was struck by an explosive device in the Zhari dessert, west of Kandahar City. Three other soldiers were injured in the blast.
Dec. 13: Three soldiers were killed by an IED west of Kandahar City after responding to reports of people planting a suspicious object. Cpl. Thomas James Hamilton, 26, Pte. John Michael Roy Curwin, 26, and Pte. Justin Peter Jones, 21, members of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from CFB Gagetown, N.B., died.
Dec: 5: An IED kills W.O. Robert Wilson, 38, Cpl. Mark McLaren, 23, and Pte. Demetrios Diplaros, 25, all members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. All three are from Ontario – Keswick, Peterborough and Scarborough respectively.
Sept 7: Sgt. Prescott (Scott) Shipway, 36, was killed by an IED just days away from completing his second tour of Afghanistan and on the same day the federal election is called. Shipway, a section commander with 2nd battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based out of Winnipeg, was killed in the Panjwaii district. He is from Saskatchewan.
Sept. 3: Corporals Andrew (Drew) Grenon, 23, of Windsor, Ont., and Mike Seggie, 21, of Winnipeg and Pte. Chad Horn, 21, of Calgary, infantrymen with the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from CFB Shilo, where killed in a Taliban ambush. Five other soldiers were injured in the attack.
Aug. 20: Three combat engineers attached to 2nd Battalion Batallion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton are killed by an IED in Zhari district. Sgt. Shawn Eades, 34, of Hamilton, Ont., Cpl. Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden, 25, of the Spiritwood, Sask., area, and Sapper Stephan John Stock, 25, of Campbell River, B.C. A fourth soldier was seriously injured.
Aug. 13: Jacqueline Kirk and Shirley Case, who were in Afghanistan with the International Rescue Committee, died in Afghanistan’s Logar province after the car they were riding in was ambushed. Kirk, 40, was a dual British-Canadian citizen from Outremont, Que. Case, 30, was from Williams Lake, B.C.
Aug. 11: Master Cpl. Erin Doyle, 32, of Kamloops, B.C., an Edmonton-based soldier of 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was killed in a firefight in Panjwaii district.
Aug. 9: Master Cpl. Josh Roberts, 29, a native of Saskatchewan and a member of 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man., died during a firefight involving a private security company in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar City. The death is under investigation.
July 18: Cpl. James Hayward Arnal of Winnipeg, an infantryman with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was rushed from the patrol in the volatile Panjwaii district to Kandahar Airfield, where he died from his injuries sustained from an IED.
July 5: Pte. Colin William Wilmot, a medic with 1 Field Ambulance and attached to 2nd Battalion Batallion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from Edmonton, stepped on an IED while on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district.
July 4: Cpl. Brendan Anthony Downey died at Camp Mirage in an undisclosed country in the Arabian Peninsula of non-combat injuries. He was in his quarters at the time. Downey, 36, was a military police officer with 17 Wing Detachment, Dundurn, Sask.
June 7: Capt. Jonathan Sutherland Snyder, a member of 1 Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton, died after falling into a well while on a security patrol in the Zhari district.
June 3: Capt. Richard Leary, 32, was killed when his patrol came under small arms fire while on foot patrol west of Kandahar City. Leary, "Stevo" to his friends, and a member of 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was based at CFB Shilo, Man.
May 6: Cpl. Michael Starker of the 15 Field Ambulance was fatally wounded during a foot patrol in the Pashmul region of the Afghanistan’s Zhari district. Starker, 36, was a Calgary paramedic on his second tour in Afghanistan. He was part of a civil-military co-operation unit that did outreach in local villages. Another soldier, who was not identified, was wounded in the incident.
April 4: Pte. Terry John Street, of Surrey, B.C., and based with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Shilo, Man., was killed when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device to the southwest of Kandahar City.
March 16: Sgt. Jason Boyes of Napanee, Ont., based with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Shilo, Man., was killed when he steps on a buried explosive device while on foot patrol in the Zangabad region in Panjwaii District.
March 11: Bombardier Jeremie Ouellet, 22, of Matane, Que., died in his quarters at Kandahar Airfield. He was with the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. His death is under investigation by the National Investigative Service.
March 2: Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25, of Edmonton was killed by an IED just days before his tour was scheduled to end. He was in a vehicle about 45 kilometres west of the Kandahar base. He was a member of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians).
Jan. 23: Sapper Etienne Gonthier, 21, of St-George-de-Beauce, Que., and based with 5e Regiment du genie de combat in Val Cartier, Que. was killed and two others wounded in an incident involving a roadside bomb.
Jan. 15: Trooper Richard Renaud from Alma, Que., was killed and a second Canadian soldier was injured when their armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb Tuesday in Kandahar’s Zhari district. Renaud, 26, of the 12eme Regiment blinde du Canada in Valcartier, Que., and three other soldiers were on a routine patrol in the Arghandab region, about 10 Kilometres north of Kandahar City, when their Coyote reconnaissance vehicle struck the improvised explosive device.
Jan. 6: Cpl. Eric Labbe, 31, of Rimouski, Que., and Warrant Officer Hani Massouh died when their light armoured vehicle rolled over in Zhari district.
2007
Dec. 30: Jonathan Dion, 27, a gunner from Val d’Or, Que., died and four others were injured after their armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Zhari district.
Nov. 17: Cpl. Nicholas Raymond Beauchamp, of the 5th Field Ambulance, and Pte. Michel Levesque, of the Royal 22nd Regiment, both based in Valcartier, Que., were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their LAV-III armoured vehicle in Zhari district.
Sept. 25: Cpl Nathan Hornburg, 24, of the Kings Own Calgary Regiment, was killed by mortar fire while trying to repair the track of a Leopard tank during an operation in the Panjwaii district.
Aug. 29: Maj. Raymond Ruckpaul, serving at the NATO coalition headquarters in Kabul, died after being found shot in his room. ISAF and Canadian officials have said they had not ruled out suicide, homicide or accident as the cause of death. Ruckpaul was an armoured officer based at the NATO Allied Land Component Command Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. His hometown and other details have not been released.
Aug. 22: Two Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb. Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier of 2nd Battalion Batallion, Royal 22nd Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que., and Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne, a member of Fifth Ambulance de campagne, also based in Valcartier, died when the vehicle they were in struck a suspected mine, approximately 50 kilometres west of Kandahar City during Operation EAGLE EYE. An Afghan interpreter was also killed and a third soldier and two Radio Canada journalists were injured.
Aug. 19: Pte. Simon Longtin, 23, died when the LAV-III armoured vehicle he was travelling in struck an improvised explosive device.
July 4: Six Canadian soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle. The dead are Capt. Matthew Johnathan Dawe, Cpl. Cole Bartsch, Cpl. Jordan Anderson and Pte. Lane Watkins, all of 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, Master-Cpl. Colin Bason, a reservist from The Royal Westminster Regiment and Capt. Jefferson Clifford Francis of 1 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based in Shilo Man.
June 20: Three soldiers from 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, died when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. Sgt. Christos Karigiannis, Cpl. Stephen Bouzane, 26, and Pte. Joel Wiebe, 22 were on a re-supply mission, travelling between two checkpoints in an open, all-terrain vehicle, not an armoured vehicle.
June 11: Trooper Darryl Caswell, 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Dragoons, was killed by a roadside bomb that blew up near the vehicle he was travelling in, while on patrol about 40 minutes north of Kandahar city. He was part of a resupply mission.
May 30: Master Cpl. Darrell Jason Priede, a combat cameraman, died when an American helicopter he was aboard crashed in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province, reportedly after being shot at by Taliban fighters. Priede was from CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
May 25: Cpl. Matthew McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, based at Petawawa, Ont., was killed while on foot patrol and another soldier was injured when a roadside bomb exploded near them during a major operation to clear out Taliban. The soldier, a member of the mentorship and liaison team, is believed to have stepped on an improvised explosive device.
April 18: Master Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer, 25, a special forces member, died from injuries sustained in an accidental fall from a communications tower in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is the first death of a special forces member while on duty in Afghanistan.
April 11: Master Cpl. Allan Stewart, 30, and Trooper Patrick Pentland, 23, were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. Both men were members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons based at CFB Petawawa, Ont.
April 8: Six Canadian soldiers died in southern Afghanistan as a result of injuries sustained when the vehicle they were travelling in hit an explosive device. Sgt. Donald Lucas, Cpl. Aaron E. Williams, Cpl. Brent Poland, Pte. Kevin Vincent Kennedy, Pte. David Robert Greenslade, 2nd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Gagetown, N.B. were killed in the blast. Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix, a reservist from the Princess Louise Fusiliers, based in Halifax, also died. One other soldier was seriously injured.
March 6: Cpl. Kevin Megeney, 25, a reservist from Stellarton, N.S., died in an accidental shooting. He was shot through the chest and left lung. Megeney went to Afghanistan in the fall as a volunteer with 1st Batallion, Nova Scotia Highlanders Militia.
2006
Nov. 27: Two Canadian soldiers were killed on the outskirts of Kandahar when a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of military vehicles. Cpl. Albert Storm, 36, of Niagara Falls, Ont., and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, from Bouctouche, N.B., were members of the Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. They were in an armoured personnel carrier that had just left the Kandahar Airfield base when a vehicle approached and detonated explosives.
Oct. 14: Sgt. Darcy Tedford and Pte. Blake Williamson from 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment in Petawawa, Ont., were killed and three others wounded after troops in Kandahar province came under attack by Taliban insurgents wielding rocket propelled grenades and mortars, according to media reports. The troops were trying to build a road in the region when the ambush attack occurred.
Oct. 7: Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson, a member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons of Petawawa, Ont., died after a roadside bomb or IED exploded under a Nyala armoured vehicle. Wilson was a gunner in the Nyala vehicle. The blast occurred in the Pashmul region of Afghanistan.
Oct. 3: Cpl. Robert Thomas James Mitchell and Sgt. Craig Paul Gillam were killed in an attack in southern Afghanistan as they worked to clear a route for a future road construction project. Both were members of the Petawawa, Ont.-based Royal Canadian Dragoons.
Sept. 29: Pte. Josh Klukie was killed by an improvised explosive device while he was conducting a foot patrol in a farm field in the Panjwaii district. Klukie, of Thunder Bay, Ont., was serving in the First Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment.
Sept. 18: Four soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber riding a bicycle detonated explosives in the Panjwaii area. Cpl. Shane Keating, Cpl. Keith Morley and Pte. David Byers, 22, all members of 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from Shilo, Man., and Cpl. Glen Arnold, a member of 2 Field Ambulance, from Petawawa, Ont., were killed in the attack that wounded several others.
Sept. 4: Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, a member of 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., killed and dozens of others wounded in a friendly fire incident involving an American A-10 Warthog aircraft. Graham was a Canadian Olympic team member in 1992, when he raced as a member of the 4 x 400 metre relay team.
Sept. 3: Four Canadian soldiers – Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, Sgt. Shane Stachnik and Pte. William Jonathan James Cushley, all based at CFB Petawawa, west of Ottawa, were killed as insurgents disabled multiple Canadian vehicles with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Nine other Canadians were wounded in the fighting that killed an estimated 200 Taliban members.
Aug. 22: Cpl. David Braun, a recently arrived soldier with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was killed by a suicide bomber outside the gates of Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City. The soldier, in his 20s, was a native of Raymore, Sask. Three other Canadian soldiers were injured in the afternoon attack.
Aug. 11: Cpl. Andrew James Eykelenboom died during an attack by a suicide bomber on a Canadian convoy that was resupplying a forward fire base south of Kandahar near the border with Pakistan. A medic with the 1st Field Ambulance based in Edmonton, he was in his mid 20s and had been in the Canadian Forces for four years.
Aug. 9: Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, based out of Shilo, Man., with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was shot in a friendly fire incident, just days after arriving in Kandahar to begin his tour of duty. He arrived in Kandahar less than a week earlier.
Aug. 5: Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt of the Edmonton-based Loyal Edmonton Regiment was killed when a G-Wagon making a supply run collided with a civilian truck. Three other Loyal Edmonton Regiment soldiers were also injured in the crash: Cpl. Jared Gagnon of Sherwood Park, Cpl. Ashley Van Leeuwen of St. Paul and Pte. Adam Keen of Edmonton.
Aug. 3: Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid, based in Edmonton with the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was killed in a roadside bomb attack. Later the same day, Sgt. Vaughn Ingram, Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller and Pte. Kevin Dallaire were killed by a rocket-propelled grenade as they took on militants around an abandoned school near Pashmul. Six other Canadian soldiers were injured in the attack.
July 22: A suicide bomber blew himself up in Kandahar, killing two Canadian soldiers and wounding eight more; the slain soldiers were Cpl. Francisco Gomez, an anti-armour specialist from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton, who was driving the Bison armoured vehicle targeted by the bomber’s vehicle, and Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren of the Black Watch in Montreal.
July 9: Cpl. Anthony Joseph Boneca, a reservist with the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, Ont., was killed as Canadian military and Afghan security forces were pushing through an area west of Kandahar City that had been a hotbed of Taliban activity.
May 17: Capt. Nichola Goddard, a combat engineer with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery and Canada’s first female combat death, was killed during battle against Taliban forces in the Panjwaii region, 24 kilometres west of Kandahar.
April 22: Four soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb near Gombad, north of Kandahar. They were Cpl. Matthew Dinning, stationed at Petawawa, Ont.; Bombardier Myles Mansell, based in Victoria; Lt. William Turner, stationed in Edmonton, and Cpl. Randy Payne of CFB Wainwright, Alta.
March 28-29: Pte. Robert Costall was killed in a firefight with Taliban insurgents in the desert north of Kandahar. A U.S. soldier and a number of Afghan troops also died and three Canadians were wounded. Costall was a member of 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton. An American inquiry, made public in the summer of 2007, determined Costall was killed by friendly fire.
March 5: Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson of Grande Prairie, Alta., succumbed to injuries suffered in the LAV III crash on March 2 in Afghanistan. Wilson died in hospital in Germany.
March 2: Cpl. Paul Davis died and six others were injured when their LAV III collided with a civilian taxi just west of Kandahar during a routine patrol. The soldiers were with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
Jan. 15: Diplomat Glyn Berry was killed and three soldiers injured by a suicide bomber in Kandahar. They were patrolling in a G Wagon.
2005:
Nov. 24: Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, Royal Canadian Regiment, was killed in a traffic accident involving his light-armoured vehicle (LAV III) northeast of Kandahar. Three others soldiers suffered serious injuries.
2004:
Jan. 27: Cpl. Jamie Murphy died and three soldiers were injured by a suicide bomber while patrolling near Camp Julien in an Iltis jeep. All were members of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
2003:
Oct. 2: Sgt. Robert Alan Short and Cpl. Robbie Christopher Beerenfenger were killed and three others injured when their Iltis jeep struck a roadside bomb outside Camp Julien near Kabul. They were from 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment.
2002:
April 18: Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith were killed by friendly fire when an American fighter jet dropped a laser-guided 225-kilogram bomb on the soldiers during a training exercise near Kandahar. All served with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
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