More war dead

As the UK sees four coffins returned from Basra, the Canadians suffer more casualties in Afghanistan bringing their week's losses to eight. The following is from today's Toronto Star, linked here:

They're coming fast and furious now, these attacks on Canadian patrols and convoys. A trio of them yesterday – suicide bombing in the afternoon, suspected IED explosions in the evening, two hours and only some 800 metres apart.

All of it, on what has been a dreadful week for Canada – eight killed in four days, suggesting an orchestrated and methodical broadside by the insurgency – precisely as threatened with promises of a "spring offensive'' by the Taliban military leadership.

"I think not,'' countered Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan, when asked early this morning whether the speculated spring offensive had in fact been launched.

"We have had multiple IED (improvised explosive device) strikes before,'' he said.

"This is a tragedy. We've taken casualties that we haven't before. But, if you listen to what the Taliban are saying, they're talking hundreds and multiple attacks. These are two separate instances, widely dispersed. It is a spike in casualties, obviously. But again, certainly I am not convinced that we are seeing a spring offensive.''