Battle of Panjwaii The Battle of Panjwaii was a battle fought during two periods in the summer of 2006 , primarily involving Canadian and Afghan soldiers being supported with some small elements of the Dutch , American , and British forces . There were two separate times in which the forces were involved in heavy fighting in the region . The first phase was fought in July 2006 , and the second encounter lasted from September to October 2006 . Spring Fighting . Prior to the summer upsurge of violence and fighting , there were limited contacts in the Panjwai district . On May 17 there were a number of battles between Canadian soldiers and Taliban fighters . One of the contacts claimed the life of Captain Nichola Goddard , Canada ' s first female combat arms casualty . In another contact on the same day , Sergeant Michael Thomas Victor Denine ' s acts of heroism resulted in him being later awarded the Medal of Military Valour . After this initial fighting Task Force Orion operated as a Battle Group in Panjway and Zharie Districts from 23 May until 14 June , and were involved in a classic " running fight " with numerous Taliban groups ( each containing 30 - 40 fighters ) . The Task Force recorded 37 firefights in that period . Then , between June 14 and July 7 , 2006 , B Company of 2 PPCLI remained in Panjwyai to keep the Taliban from seizing the initiative there while the remainder of the Task Force operated in Northern Kandahar . The First Battle of Panjwaii . Operation Zahara . In mid July 2006 , Canadian and Afghan forces involved in Operation Mountain Thrust came into the Panjwaii area to help clear the area of Taliban strongholds . On July 8 heavy fighting broke out in the mud wall complexes where Taliban forces decided to dig in and fight for control of this area of Panjwaii . Canadian and Afghan forces on the offensive quickly gained control of the battlefield while heavy fighting was still ongoing . One complete Taliban group was destroyed in this fighting , another received casualties . Taliban groups in Pashmul and eastern Panywayi were forced to withdraw by 12 July , when fighting waned . During the following day Canadian forces were called to support Operation Hewad - a combined endeavour by a complete brigade attempting to clear Taliban from Sangin in Helmand . Canadians were tasked to relieve British soldiers besieged in Sangin district centre , and at the same time pressure Taliban command and control throughout the lower Sangin and Gereshk districts of Helmand , operations that again involved multiple firefights each day with dozens of Taliban casualties , but no Canadian deaths . On July 17 Task Force Orion was ordered to retake the captured towns of Nawa and Garmsir , which they did after intense fighting on 18 July , They stayed for another week in Helmand . All these operations affected Canadian operations in the area of the Panjwaii region . The Canadians were assisted by three US special forces teams . B company continued operations in Panjwayi while Task Force Orion was in Helmand . The task force began concerted operations in Panjwayi again on August 2 , and fought fierce battles in Pashmul again on August 3 , resulting in 4 Canadians killed and 11 wounded . An estimated 90 Taliban - included three commanders - were killed and wounded in this fighting . The action arrested Taliban plans to launch attacks upon Kandahar City in August . Instead they attacked Panjwayi District Centre on 19 August ( Afghan Independence Day ) . A tough defensive fight by Afghans and soldiers from A Company 2 PPCLI held the enemy at bay , causing up to 70 Taliban casulties . There was then a lull before fighting recommenced in September . The Second Battle of Panjwaii : Operation Medusa . After the fighting in July , Canadian and Afghan forces left the Panjwaii region and it once again became a Taliban stronghold and a thorn in the side of Canadian forces in Kandahar province when the Taliban consequently poured back into the deserted district . The beginning of September saw the beginning of much more intense fighting in the Panjwaii region again . And once again it was Canadians spearheading the Operation . Canadian forces on the first day strategically surrounded the Taliban and called in heavy artillery and air strikes while taking no casualties themselves . On the second day , company sized elements of the Canadian forces moved into to directly challenge the Taliban . Four soldiers were killed in two attacks . Three were killed while assaulting a Taliban position and one was killed in a bomb attack . The day after was another deadly day , a Canadian soldier was killed and more than thirty others were wounded when an American A - 10 accidentally strafed Canadian troops who had called in air support while fighting the Taliban . For the next few weeks there was more heavy fighting on a daily basis and the Taliban who had begun fighting the battle in a conventional way of trenches started to retreat from the battlefield . Canadian forces then faced sporadic resistance until Canadian forces gained the upper hand . Reconstruction efforts began immediately and small cells of Taliban fighters returned to their deadly tactics of suicide and roadside bombings . " The Road to Panjwaii " . After major combat operations of Operation Medusa had ceased , the reconstruction efforts began . One project in particular has become a deadly and dangerous effort to help the local economy grow . Canadian Forces began the construction of a road , code - named " Summit " , from the Panjwaii area to outlying areas including Kandahar city . The purpose of this road was to help the local economy grow by making access to the region much easier . Roadside bombs , booby traps and ambushes targeting engineers who were building the road cost the lives of six Canadians . The road eventually was seen by local farmers as causing problems with the existing irrigation systems and a lot of work by the Canadian Military has gone into trying to correct the problem caused by construction of the road . On October 3 , Sgt . Craig Gillam and Cpl . Robert Mitchell were killed when the Taliban ambushed an Observation Post which had been set up in the area . Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have said that the quick thinking of Sgt . Gillam helped save the lives of numerous more Canadians during the attack . On November 21 , two Canadian soldiers were injured , one very seriously , when an anti - personnel mine was triggered . The most seriously wounded soldier was airlifted to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center , Germany with wounds to his lower body that were classed as very serious , but not life threatening . It is unclear as to whether or not the mine was a newly planted one , or an older mine that had surfaced due to recent heavy rain . Civilian toll . The Battle of Panjwaii was very light on the side of civilian casualties . Many of the civilians left the area before Canadian and Afghan troops moved in . The fighting during Operation Medusa was more conventional ( e . g . trenches and " spider holes " ) than most combat in Afghanistan , and civilians were evacuated out of the combat zones for the most part . This did not stop the Taliban from using houses belonging to civilian populations for cover , resulting in the destruction of several homes . In late October , a British unit operating in the area called in an airstrike on a confirmed Taliban gathering and NATO jets attacked . The bombs killed more than sixty people , most of which the Taliban fighters claimed were civilians intentionally targeted by NATO . This claim was disputed by NATO commanders in Afghanistan who after a short investigation of the site came to their own conclusion that the majority of those killed were , in fact , Taliban fighters . NATO did however confirm that a large number of civilians were killed in the attack and quickly made a public apology for the deaths . Post Medusa Panjwaii . After the fighting of Operation Medusa came to an end , the Taliban were no longer in the district in any large numbers , but attacks were still occurring fairly regularly against the Canadian Forces . Mortar and bomb attacks as well as some gun battles were a stark reminder that the Taliban , although no longer massed , were still a real threat . Bomb attacks in November have claimed the lives of two more Canadian , and one American soldier in the area . On December 2 , a squadron of Canadian Leopard C2 tanks which were deployed from Canada as reinforcements during the Operation Medusa fighting made their way from the Kandahar Airfield to a Canadian Forward Operating Base in the Panjwaii district . The Canadian tanks are the heaviest piece of equipment both in weight , and firepower that have been seen in the Panjwaii district since the Soviet fighting during the 1980s . The day after being deployed to the forward operating base , the first shots from a Canadian tank in a combat zone since the Korean War were fired . Taliban fighters attacked the Canadian base with rockets and quickly had cannon fire from the Leopard tanks being directed at them . Operation Falcon Summit . Operation Falcon Summit was launched on December 15 , 2006 when British , Canadian , Danish , and Estonian troops began massing in the Panjwaii district the morning after NATO airstrikes hit a Taliban command post . The operation was aimed to keep up the momentum that was gathered during Operation Medusa in September 2006 . The first operation related casualty was a Canadian soldier who while en route to a meeting with tribal elders to discuss reconstruction that would be happening during and after the operation , stepped on a landmine . The soldier , Private Frederic Couture of the Royal 22 Régiment ( the " Vandoo s " ) suffered severe but not life - threatening injuries from the blast . The landmine had been planted the night before , by Taliban troops that were shot and killed by Canadian soldiers who then attempted to clear away all the landmines in the area . On December 19 , the Canadian forces in the area began a massive artillery and tank barrage on Taliban positions in the area of operations . Canadian Leopard tanks , M777 howitzers and heavy machine guns fired on Taliban positions for forty - five minutes before the barrage ended and Canadian ground forces advanced and secured a perimeter around the town of Howz - e Madad without firing a single shot .