Death of a Soldier

It was only three days ago when Canadians here at the Kandahar Airfield were dancing to techno music, sipping from beer cans and celebrating Canada Day. But the cheers did not last too long. One could sense the air filled with tragedy and faces filled with remorse as Canadians lost one of their soldiers in a major attack yesterday.

Corporal Nicholas Ashley Bulger was killed and five others were injured after the armored vehicle they were traveling in ran over an IED in Zhari district, where the Canadians are fighting to a bloody stalemate with the Taliban. The blast occurred a few seconds after the vehicle carrying the commander of the Canadian forces in Afghanistan, Brig. G. Jonathan Vance, drove past.

My colleague James Murray, who is reporting from Afghanistan for the CBC, spoke to Cpl. Bulger on Canada Day, during which Bulger talked about missing his family and his hope for the future of Afghanistan.

The prayer and eulogy ceremony for Cpl. Bulger concluded just a couple hours ago. His body is now being flown back to Canada. Below are pictures from the ramp ceremony:

All photos by Anup Kaphle

Cpl. Bulgar became the 121st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002.

First Impressions

Kandahar - If the desert did not exist, landing in Kandahar would be no different than landing down in Kathmandu. Steep rugged mountains squeeze the airfield here. And its probably because of these mountains, dust and haze refuse of leave the base - an hour into my arrival here, I was covered in white dust.

Kandahar Int'l Airport, which was built by USAID in early 60s, is now used as a military and partly civilian airfield. The airfield is under the command of the Canadian forces, with whom I'll be spending some time this week.



Other than the fact that this is a war zone, not much is different here. My dust-covered tube tent has a squeaky twin bed and the store inside the base sells bedsheets and dust cleaners for prices that are cheaper than Wal-Mart's. The cellphone shop inside the store plays bollywood songs at a low volume but loud enough for the shopkeeper to groove his head and shoulders. Packets of Marlboros and Camels (not the animal, of course) seem like the most popular items here.

But nothing makes this base more Canadian than a freshly brewed cup of Tim Hortons, a two minute walk from my bed. Pizza Hut is down the road. Oatmeal and Omlette for breakfast taste better than the cafeteria food at my undergraduate school. Walking by the cafeterias (they call them DFACs), it's hard to escape the smell of hot food, whatever they maybe.

Food aside, there is another peculiar smell one cannot neglect inside the base. The stench of feces made it impossible to sleep last night. But apparently this is the smell of Kandahar. By this morning, it has become a way of life.