No injuries as Canadian peacekeepers hit mine

[Yard Ape]

No injuries as Canadian peacekeepers hit mine
WebPosted Wed Mar 14 09:47:12 2001
Written by CBC News Online staff

TSORENA, ERITREA - A Canadian peacekeeping vehicle hit a mine in Eritrea, Africa Wednesday, but no-one was injured.

The land mine went off near the Light Armoured Vehicle‘s front wheel. Three soldiers were in it at the time, part of Canada‘s task force in east Africa.
The incident occurred as the peacekeepers were escorting another Canadian vehicle, which was sweeping local roads for mines.

The vehicle was towed back to the nearest Canadian camp.

The department of defence says a detailed investigation is underway.

 

[Yard Ape]

Canadian military vehicle hits landmine in Eritrea in second such incident
Wednesday March 14 4:06 PM EST

TSORENA, Eritrea (CP) - A Canadian armoured vehicle on patrol in Eritrea struck a landmine on Wednesday, resulting in a minor injury to a Canadian peacekeeper. The incident was the second time in two days that a Canadian patrol hit a mine in this East African country.

On Wednesday, a Bison armoured vehicle carrying three soldiers struck a mine while conducting operations near the town of Tsorena, the Department of National Defence said in a statement from Eritrea.

The mine detonated near the front of the vehicle. An unidentified soldier sustained a ruptured eardrum during the explosion.

The injured soldier was scheduled to undergo medical tests on Wednesday, said 2nd Lieut. Pierrette Ledrew.

"We‘ve had incident‘s like this in the past," Ledrew said in a telephone interview from Ottawa, referring to accidents in other Canadian peacekeeping missions. "But it is not something that happens regularly."

Wednesday‘s explosion followed an incident on Tuesday when a Canadian light armoured vehicle struck a mine.

Nobody was injured in Tuesday‘s explosion, though the vehicle did sustain some damage.

The two landmines were placed approximately 560 metres from each other, on a road that had been considered safe following previous patrols.

Following Wednesday‘s incident, which occurred about four kilometres northeast of the town of Tsorena, Canadian personnel were banned from used all routes north of Tsorena.

"Peacekeeping operations are full of risks," said Col. Jim Simms, the Canadian contingent commander, in a statement from Eritrea. "In protecting its crew of three, the vehicle did exactly what is expected of it."

There are 475 Canadians serving in the area, said Ledrew, as part of a peacekeeping mission meant to supervise a peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The war between the two Horn of Africa countries broke out in May 1998, when Eritrean troops took control of territory claimed by Ethiopia.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, but the border was never properly demarcated.

Last month, the two sides agreed to set up a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the area were the fought.

Meles Zenawi, the prime minister of Ethiopia, estimated the war cost Ethiopia, one of the world‘s poorest countries, the equivalent of about $1.5 million Cdn a day.