PRT/KANDAHAR - RECENT ATTACKS ON CANADIAN-LED

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001828 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS, SCA/PAB, S/CT, EUR/RPM STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76 POLAD TREASURY FOR D/S KIMMITT, APARAMESWARAN, AJEWELL REL NATO/ISAF/AS/NZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2016 TAGS: PTER MARR ASEC AF CA SUBJECT: PRT/KANDAHAR - RECENT ATTACKS ON CANADIAN-LED FORCES Classified By: POL COUNSELOR ANGUS SIMMONS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY. At 07:30 April 22 near Gumbad in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar Province, an improvised explosive device (IED) killed three Canadian soldiers immediately and one perished later at a military hospital. Three Canadian soldiers were wounded, but not seriously. The four vehicle convoy then came under small arms fire. Canadian forces returned fire and the attackers fled. None was killed or captured. Additional Canadian forces were sent in to secure the area of the attack and to safeguard Canadian Task Force Orion,s patrol house in Gumbad. Kandahar Air Field also came under rocket attack twice on April 23. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (S) On April 22 at 07:30 local time, an IED killed three soldiers immediately and one more solider died later at a military hospital. The vehicle which was hit by the IED was the one that Command South Commanding General David Fraser had traveled in during his visit to Gumbad. Two of the soldiers killed were members of his close protection detail. One of the deceased was the major in command of Task Force Orion,s Civil ) Military Cooperation (CIMIC) unit. Note: Another member of this CIMIC team, Trevor Greene, was axed in the head at a meeting with a village shura about a month ago. End note.) There is no evidence that the General was targeted, but a Taliban effort along these lines cannot be ruled out despite low command and control capacity. The General had flown back to Kandahar Air Field before the attack. ¶3. (S) Shah Wali Kot district in northern Kandahar has long been an a Taliban refuge and staging area. It also serves as a transit area for Taliban groups infiltrating into Uruzgan Province. Gumbad lies approximately 50 kilometers north of Kandahar near Highway One which connects Kandahar city with Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan. ¶4. (S) The IED was a spider device attached to four anti-tank mines. These mines remain readily available throughout Afghanistan. ¶5. (S) In an apparently unrelated incident, three rockets, two of them inside the wire, targeted Kandahar Air Force Base in the early morning of April 23. Although one partially destroyed a building very close to General Fraser,s residence, this appears to be happenstance given this (untargetable) means of attack. ¶6. (S) In another incident, at about 11:45 a.m. local time on April 23, discovery of an unexploded shell near the Chai house (conference facilities) caused an interruption to the economic briefing being presented by Embassy Economic Counselor and USAID Emboff for Dutch General Ton van Loon, who will assume command of the Region South Command under NATO ISAF in November. After the area was cleared, the briefing was resumed at the Chai House, but was later moved to another location on the base KABUL 00001828 002 OF 002 after an incoming mortar round destroyed a building across the street from the Chai House. Comment -------------- ¶7. (S) The Canadian-led Multi-National Brigade has focused considerable resources on expanding activity in the Shah Wali Kot area to secure Highway One and to reduce the Taliban,s capabilities in advance of the Dutch assuming responsibility for Uruzgan Province and command of the Tarin Kowt PRT in late summer (the planned date is the end of July). The increase in IEDs and other Taliban activity in the area appears, in part, to be an effort to counter the Coalition,s increased presence in the area. NEUMANN