<

Canadian Soldier Stable After Bullet Wound

Soldier wounded in the neck during live-fire exercise in Kandahar

Wednesday, July 10, 2002
(6:39 AM ET)
The Canadian Press

Canadian soldiers are shown during a live-fire exercise in Kandahar, Afghanistan at a former al-Qaida camp, on April 2, 2002.
Image Credit: Stephen Thorne -- The Canadian Press.

The 3rd battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group's only losses on the first Canadian combat mission in 50 years also happened on a practice range. In the April 18 incident, four soldiers died and eight were injured when an American F-16 jet fighter pilot dropped a bomb on a group of soldiers conducting a night-time live-fire exercise.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- CP
A Canadian soldier is in stable condition after a stray bullet fragment hit his neck during a live-fire exercise in Kandahar.

The unidentified soldier was out on a range Tuesday afternoon near the Kandahar airfield where he and colleagues were practising shooting small arms on targets when the incident happened.

Military spokesman Lieut. Luc Charron said the soldier was conscious and was taken from the range to a U.S. medical unit at the airport terminal.

Personnel there made the decision to transport the soldier by air to a military hospital at the base in Bagram, near Kabul, where he would receive more treatment. He arrived there later Tuesday and is under the care of a head and neck specialist.
(More: The Toronto Star News Source)
2002 © The Canadian Press.

Dan