anada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan, as an active combatant in operations against the Taliban and other insurgents in southern Afghanistan, has produced the largest number of fatal casualties for any single Canadian military mission since the 25th Canadian Brigade served in the Korean War.




A reported total of 85 members of the Canadian Forces have died in Afghanistan between February 2002 and June 14, 2008.

Of these,

73 were due to hostile circumstances
10 were accidents or other non-hostile deaths
39 soldiers have been killed in roadside bombings
11 died in unspecified hostile incidents
6 in RPG attacks
11 were killed in suicide bombings
6 died due to United States friendly fire
6 in vehicle accidents
1 in a mortar attack
2 from accidental falls
2 from accidental gunshots
   and 1 suicide death...

April 18, 2002 (Tarnak Farm Incident)

On the night of April 18, 2002 an American F-16 fighter jet piloted by U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt, dropped a laser-guided 227-kilogram (500 lb) bomb on the Canadians who were conducting a night firing exercise at Tarnak Farms, near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Age: 24 Home town: Montréal, Québec Unit: 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Edmonton, Alberta)

Corporal Ainsworth Dyer Deceased: April 18, 2002 Incident: An American F-16 fighter jet dropped a laser-guided 225-kilogram bomb near Kandahar, accidentally killing four Canadian soldiers and injuring eight others. BIO: Corporal Ainsworth Dyer was born in Montréal, Que., on July 29, 1977 and resided in Toronto, Ont. He enrolled with the Militia's 48th Highlanders of Canada as an Infantryman in February 1996 and transferred to the Regular Force in October 1997.After completing Battle School, Cpl Dyer was posted to 3 PPCLI in the spring of 1998, where he served as a Rifleman and deployed with 3 PPCLI on Operation Palladium to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2000. He later deployed with his battalion to Operation Apollo in Afghanistan where he was killed during a live fire exercise. Corporal Dyer was killed in the US friendly fire incident outside of Kandahar. Dyer had aspirations of gaining an engineering degree upon completion of his service in the Canadian Forces. He leaves behind his mother, father, and fiancé.

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