Royal Canadians launch Afstan offensive

Drinking to Ortana, soldiers and armoured tanks attached to the Royal Canadian Regiment have joined a "major" pre-Christmas Nato offensive in the Panjwai District of Afghanistan, with their British, American and Dutch allies and the growing Afghan Army, against Taliban forces. The offensive comes on the heel of reported rumours that the Taliban executed as many as 26 local Afghan men on Monday and put their headless bodies on public display around a local village, in a morbid attempt to dissuade other civilians from assisting NATO and Afghan national security forces operating in the area.

This is the first time Canadians have used tanks since the Korean War, and the first Afstan operation since the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry led Operation Medusa in the Fall, where hundreds of Taliban were killed in direct combat with the PPCLI.
Today is also the 123rd anniversary of the RCR, a regiment which had the rare honour of mounting the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace back in 2000, when it participated in the Commonwealth's marking of the 100th Anniversary of the Boer War, the first time Canadians fought together overseas.

Reports so far indicate the RCR offensive is progressing without incident. This is good news given the number of casualties the Canucks suffered in the Fall. The presence of heavy armoured tanks may make all the difference this time around.

Beaverbrook