(16 Mar 2002)

March 13
1. Helicopter flying over troops on hillside
2. Helicopter on ground
3. Soldiers with radio
4. Valley
5. Soldiers looking at maps
6. Various of soldiers walking
7. Helicopter landing
8. Soldiers disembarking
9. Various of soldiers on hillside
10. Helicopter coming over hill
11. Various of troops walking over hill

March 14
Night shots
12. Soldiers on hillside
13. Soldier on radio
14. Soldiers around tent
15. Mid shot, soldiers

March 15
16. Setup shot, Col Kevin Wilkerson
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Colonel Kevin Wilkerson, Task Force Commander, 10th Mountain Division (2nd Brigade):
"Insertion went extremely well. I was happy with us getting in here without fire. And then we proceeded to look for al-Qaida, doing moving contact technique in order to search them out, and we have come across contact in this operation already. But like I said, the soldiers of this task force have done extremely well "
18. Various interiors, Chinook in flight
19. Soldiers walking across ridge
20. Helicopter flying over
21. Helicopter on ground
22. Various, soldiers on ground
23. Soldiers on lookout
24. Various, destroyed al-Qaida campsite
25. Various. explosions in valley
26. Discarded bullets
27. Troops on hillside

STORYLINE:

Canadian troops met no opposition when they were dropped off by helicopters in the Gardez hills on Wednesday morning, and easily took control of much of the ridgeline by the end of the day.

The troops slept out in the open, under the stars and in the cold.

They watched as massive explosions rocked the mountains three kilometres across the valley, where coalition aircraft were bombing exit routes used by remnants of al-Qaida forces.

Canadian and American troops attacked al-Qaida positions in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least three enemy fighters in the Canadian-led offensive that began a day earlier.

The assault raged for about 90 minutes before the area was secured. There were no reports of Canadian or American casualties.

The battle came on the second day of Operation Harpoon, which military headquarters officials said involved 500 Canadian and 100 US troops in the mountainous areas south of Gardez, Paktia province.

It is believed to be one of the biggest ground offensives by the Canadian Forces in recent decades.

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