KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The bodies of four Canadian soldiers killed in two separate bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan on Friday began their last journey home Saturday as commanders attempted to measure the cost and achievements of the massive operation that took their lives.
More than 3,000 NATO soldiers paid tribute at a night-time ramp ceremony to honour the memories of Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, Cpl. Tyler Crooks -- both of November Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment battle group -- Trooper Jack Bouthillier and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, of the Royal Canadian Dragoons.
"Few burdens are heavier than the caskets of a soldier," said Capt. Roy Laudenorio, the battle group padre for 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.
"It is a reminder of the price of peace and longed freedom. The soil of this land will, hopefully, remember heroes who gave up their lives for a future not yet fully born."
It was that ill-defined future that preoccupied the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, who said Saturday that the operation, which claimed those four lives was intended to scatter the Taliban's ability to cause havoc in Afghanistan's upcoming presidential election.
Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance predicted insurgents have been set back in their preparations by what was, in military-speak, a disruption operation, something intended to break up an enemy's ability to fight.
"This is one step in many on the way to securing the elections for the 20th of August, the presidential elections," he said Saturday.
Disruption campaigns rarely result in victory, rather they are meant to buy time and in this case, the general warned, the effect will be short-lived.
"I would suspect that disruption would last for about a month, such that it will take a little bit of time to get their feet back under them to be able to commence operations again," Vance told reporters, referencing a map pinned to the back of an armoured fighting vehicle.
"I believe the last resulting of this will be forcing the insurgents to work much harder in recreating their (improvised explosive) capacity."
More such counter-insurgency offensives are planned throughout the spring and summer.
The pain of Friday's attacks was not one sided, the general insisted, and he went on to challenge the public perception that soldiers are helpless in the face such capricious bombings.
"We caused far more insurgent casualties, dead and wounded, than they caused to us," he said.
"It's certainly not a body count effort, but I just wanted you to know that we don't operate as if we are bunch of potential victims."
The bombings happened as Canadian and American units taking part in Operation Jaley, the Pashtu word for net, began pulling back to their desert bases and fortified compounds.
The attack that claimed the lives of Vernelli and Crooks took place in Zhari district, west of Kandahar city, where most of the fighting took place.
The soldiers were in the final stages of clearing out of a village and about to sit down with local elders when a soldier set off a booby trap.
Bouthillier and Hayes died when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Shah Wali Kot, northeast of the city.
A typical tactic for the Taliban is, when they hear NATO troops coming, they slip out of the way but sprinkle bombs and booby traps around the troops.
A total of eight soldiers were wounded in both bombings.
The deaths bring to 116 the number of Canadian soldiers died in the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.
As many as 15 prisoners were taken during the operation and Vance estimated that the dismantling of bomb factories and materials prevented some 50 improvised explosives from being planted.
Taliban command centres and bomb facilities were the main targets of raid, involving over 2,000 Canadian and American troops, the largest such combined operation the two countries have undertaken together since the Korean War.
A kandak, or battalion, of Afghan troops also took part, clearing the way for Canadian troops to push to their objectives.
Western Zhari district, where most of the fighting took place, about 50 kilometres outside of Kandahar city, is considered prime Taliban territory. There are many sparsely populated villages, many of them abandoned since the Soviet occupation decades ago.
They are perfect locations to build improvised bombs and hide weapons.
