DND NEWS RELEASE
News Release
Names of five Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan released
CEFCOM NR–07.007 - April 8, 2007
OTTAWA – The names of five of the six Canadian soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on April 8, 2007 are as follows:
Sergeant Donald Lucas, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Gagetown, N.B.;
Corporal Christopher Paul Stannix, a Reservist from the Princess Louise Fusiliers, based in Halifax, N.S.;
Corporal Aaron E. Williams, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment;
Private Kevin Vincent Kennedy, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment; and
Private David Robert Greenslade, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment.
At the request of the family, the name of the sixth soldier killed is being withheld temporarily.
The soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near their LAV-III armoured vehicle. The incident occurred at approximately 13:30 hrs Kandahar time on April 8, approximately 75 km west of Kandahar City, near the border between Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
The incident occurred as Canadian soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group were conducting convoy security operations as part of Operation ACHILLES, a major International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation underway in the south of Afghanistan. Launched in early March in the Sangin region, Operation ACHILLES is a combined effort between the Afghan national security forces and NATO’s ISAF aimed at creating the security conditions required for reconstruction efforts to progress at a faster pace in Helmand province. Canadian troops from Joint Task Force Afghanistan have played an important supporting role in Operation ACHILLES preventing Taliban insurgents from reinforcing or fleeing the area of Sangin valley.
In the incident, a Canadian soldier suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries from the blast and plans are currently being made to transfer him to the U.S. military medical facility at Landstuhl, Germany. Three other soldiers, one of whom was lightly injured and two who had not suffered any physical injuries from the incident were released from the hospital at Kandahar Airfield on April 8.