Two more Canadian soldiers have been injured in Afghanistan, mere kilometres from the location where another soldier was killed earlier this week, military officials confirmed on Thursday.
One soldier received a gunshot wound while another was hit by shrapnel during a patrol in Panjwaii, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City, CTV's Steve Chao reported.
"They were working with Afghan Army soldiers trying to patrol an area as a police substation was being built," Chao said from Kandahar.
As part of Operation Sadiq Sarbaaz, or Operation Honest Soldier, soldiers are trying to build a number of police stations around the Taliban control and command centre in an effort to cut off their supply routes.
The soldiers were patrolling the area when they were ambushed and hit with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.
Both were airlifted to the Kandahar Airfield where they both underwent surgery. One of the soldiers will be airlifted to an American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for more medical treatment.
Earlier in the week, a Canadian soldier was seriously wounded Tuesday when insurgents ambushed a joint patrol with the Afghan National Police.
Thursday's ambush occurred only a few kilometres away from the site of a mortar attack that killed another Canadian soldier.
Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, 24, died in Afghanistan during a counter-insurgency operation in one of the most dangerous districts in Afghanistan.
A member of a tank squadron, Hornburg was repairing the track on a Leopard 2 tank when he was killed by the blast from a mortar strike around 4:30 p.m. local time.
Another soldier was wounded in the same mortar attack.
In an ensuing firefight, three more infantry soldiers were wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade launched by insurgents.
"There has been a great deal of intense fighting over the last few weeks," Chao said.
The Taliban are trying to mount their last push forward in an effort to gain as much control before the winter season when insurgent activity typically cools down.
"In the meantime, NATO forces are trying to lay their imprint on this area very much known as a Taliban stronghold," Chao said.
Hornburg, a member of the King's Own Calgary Regiment, is the 71st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002.
After arriving at CFB Trenton on Friday, a convoy will transport Hornburg's body to Toronto where an autopsy will be performed.
