Afstan: Leopards now in action

To follow on BBS' post below:

Canadian tanks fired their cannons in battle for the first time in half a century yesterday, replying to a Taliban rocket attack on their forward operating base.

The squadron of Leopard tanks arrived at the base Saturday, rolling through the nearby village of Panjwaii with an impressive show of force for local citizens and the Taliban.

The Taliban obviously noticed. Two rebel rockets landed near the base at twilight yesterday, shattering the relative calm with loud explosions. Canadian troops responded with two mortar bombs, the flash on the mountaintop clearly visible from below in the fading light.

Then, at 5:10 p.m. local time, a Canadian tank fired its first shot in combat in five decades. It was followed by a second blast at the Taliban a few moments later, the boom of the 105-mm cannon echoing off the rocks...

Their first target was an abandoned grape drying hut with metre-thick mud walls said to have the resiliency of bulletproof armour.

But against the tank guns, the hut never had a chance. A line of Leopards took turns firing rounds at the hut, the sound of the shots surprisingly quiet considering the damage that was being inflicted.

The shells punched holes through the mud walls and blew the roof off in a dramatic plume of smoke and dust...

Photos of Leopards in Afstan from Combat Camera.