Fallen soldiers honoured at emotional ceremony

Canadian soldiers said goodbye on Tuesday to five comrades killed over the previous two days while taking part in a major offensive in southern Afghanistan.

Hundreds ofsoldiers gathered at Kandahar airfield and a piper played as five flag-draped coffins were carried onto a C-130 Hercules airplane. Some of the pallbearers were crying.

Some soldiers were bandaged,a fewwere in wheelchairs and many wiped away tears.

Also Tuesday, military officials identified the fourth soldier killed on Sunday as Pte. William Jonathan James Cushley of the 1st Batallion Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa. They didn't provide his hometownorage.

Sgt. Shane Stachnik, Warrant Officers Frank Mellish and Richard Nolan, and Cushley were killed on Sunday during fighting with Taliban insurgents in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province.

Pte. Mark Graham died on Monday when two U.S. aircraft mistakenly fired on a Canadian platoon during the operation.

Eight Canadian soldiers who were injured in the same incident Monday were flown to Landstuhl, Germany, for medical care.

One was in critical condition and undergoing surgery, one was in stable conditionin the intensive care unit, and the others were either being treated in wards orin the process of being released late Tuesdayfor travel back to Canada.

More than 25 other soldiers suffered less serious wounds and were treated in Afghanistan.

Bodieslikely back in Canada on Wednesday

All five dead soldierswerebased at CFB Petawawa.

The plane carrying the coffins is expected to arrive at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario late Wednesday.

The Canadians were taking part in a major operation aimed at taking control of two dangerous districts west of Kandahar City.

Lieut. Grant McDonald, a platoon commander, told the Canadian Press that the deaths of the two warrant officers will affect the troops because warrant officers provide stability. But he said the soldiers are eager to return to the fight against the Taliban.

"The warrant officer is basically like a grandfather to the platoon," he said. "He provides advice and a lot of stability to the platoon, and he's someone who the troops look towards as a strong leader."

After the ceremony, Canadian soldiers did return to the fight to clear the Taliban from their strongholds.

"No one wants to sit and wait for anything," McDonald said. "We'd rather get out there and take the fight to the enemy and give them our two cents."

Dedicated family men

Mellish and Nolan were described on Tuesday as dedicated family men who were proud to serve with the Canadian Forces.

Nolan grew up in Mount Pearl, N.L., and flags at the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature were flying at half-mast in his honour.

The warrant officer had four children withhis common-law partner, who is also serving in Afghanistan. Nolan's mother has been looking after thechildren in their absence.

Nolan had been in Afghanistan for only a month, a neighbour told CBC News.

The parents of Mellish, who was raised in Truro, N.S., said in a statement given to the Halifax Chronicle Herald thathe was a loving husband devoted to his two sons.

"We are proud of Frank's service and accomplishments on this and previous missions," Barry and Sandra Mellish said in the release.

Mellish, 38, was an 18-year veteran of the Canadian Forces on his second deployment in Afghanistan.

"He is greatly missed and our family will never be the same,"his parents said in a statement ona Departmentof National Defence website.

Graham, who grew up in Hamilton, Ont., was described as a gifted athlete who excelled in track and field. His family gathered in a Hamilton bungalow on the weekend to mourn his death.

Fighting the Taliban, rebuilding the country

Thirty-two Canadian soldiers have died since Canada first sent troops to Afghanistan in early 2002. Canada has about 2,200 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, mainly in Kandahar.

In addition to fighting the Taliban insurgency, Canadians are helping torebuild the country, which was left in ruins after decades of war.

The five deaths during the most recent fighting, known as Operation Medusa, are the most sustained by Canada within 24 hours since early 2002.