Triple vehicle crash injures 13 Canadian soldiers
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan  Thirteen Canadian soldiers suffered minor injuries when three armoured vehicles smashed into each other on the pre-dawn streets of Kandahar.
Major Dale MacEachern, a spokesman for the Canadian Forces, says the accident happened when a convoy of recently arrived combat troops was moving between bases.
All of the injured were treated at the nearby medical clinic at the Canadian-run provincial reconstruction base, but six of them were transferred by air to the NATO hospital at Kandahar airfield for further observation.
Maj. MacEachern says all of the injuries are minor and the soldiers are expected to return to duty within days.
Details of how the accident happened were not released and military police are investigating.
The fact all of the soldiers involved are new to the theatre is being considered as a factor because each new rotation has encountered a series of vehicle accidents at the beginning.
Thirteen Canadian soldiers sustained minor injuries yesterday when three light armoured vehicles (LAV III) smashed into each other in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The LAV IIIs are reported to have sustained minor damage.

Seven soldiers were taken to the Canadian-run provincial reconstruction base medical clinic. Six soldiers were transferred by air to the NATO hospital in Kandahar airfield.

The soldiers, who arrived in Afghanistan this month, are from the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment and reserve units around Atlantic Canada..

"Our soldiers receive excellent training before they're deployed to theatre, but I don't think anything can quite fully prepare anyone for the nature of the roads here in Kandahar," said a spokesman for the Canadian Forces, Major Dale MacEachern.

They are now safe and will return to their units in a couple of days.