Afghanistan — $40
!Militants attacked a high-profile, Canadian-run “model village” on the outskirts of Kandahar city Monday night, killing one Afghan National Army soldier and wounding seven others!
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A vehicle drove up to the 900-person mud-hut community of Deh-E-Bagh around 7:50 p.m., in a vehicle packed with explosives, according to a Canadian military spokesman. Following the explosion! which took place at a checkpoint about 700 metres from the village's centre, Afghan National Army soldiers and militants exchanged small-arms fire before the attackers were eventually driven away.
None of the village's residents or Canadian soldiers were injured.
The Canadian Forces announced Deh-E-Bagh to the world late last month. Before then, the project was kept under strict embargo for fear of drawing this kind of attack.
Deh-E-Bagh is the first of what the Canadian military hopes will be many similar projects, where soldiers secure a village, aid in the construction of things such as irrigation ditches and streetlights, and then move on to secure another village. The aim of the project is to provide a secure place to live, and thus build trust between Afghans and their government.
Despite the death of one Afghan soldier, the Canadian military painted Monday night's attack as a victory of sorts because the Afghan soldiers manning the checkpoint managed to repel the attackers on their own. One of the biggest drawbacks of NATO-led construction and development projects is the subsequent deterioration after Afghan police and military members take over the security of a location.
In the past, Canadian Forces members have had to reclaim the same ground again, after local forces lost it to militants.
Canadian military spokesman Major Mario Couture said that, given its high profile, Deh-E-Bagh may be the subject of future attacks. “Am I surprised they tried to attack it? Not really,” he said. “Will they try again? Most likely.”!
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