Friday, August 20, 2010 4-H Clubs head to the PNE
Page 12
ary Annivers 1985-2010
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Ridge corporal back from war
THE FAIR ❚ Guitar Hero
by Amy Steele
asteele@mrtimes.com
M
inutes after a 1,200-pound bomb blew up in front of police headquarters in Kandahar City killing 30 people, Ridge Meadows RCMP Cpl. Todd Balaban was on the scene helping the Afghan National Police investigate the grisly attack. The March 13, 2010 attack killed 15 men who Balaban had been training earlier that day. “It was upsetting,” he said, adding he’d met one of the men’s family that same day and they’d all been excited about their new training and equipment. Balaban was four months into his nine-month posting in Afghanistan at the time. He helped the Afghan police cordon off the area, look for unexploded ordinances, check people and cars and search for survivors. Balaban recalls how the carnage of the bombing extended two blocks away, injuring a couple in a fourth floor apartment during their wedding. Suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDS) going off were regular occurrences during his stint in Afghanistan. He recalls how one day nine IEDs went off in one day. Meanwhile, the Afghan National
Police had to deal with three to seven deaths every day – everything from murders by insurgents to organized crime to car accidents. Balaban was there to help mentor members of the fledgling Afghan police force and teach them policing and investigative techniques. He travelled to police headquarters several times a week to teach major case and file management, how to cultivate sources, conduct surveillance, how to interview witnesses, interrogation techniques and how to secure a crime scene. “Predominantly they’d attend a crime scene and they wouldn’t gather any evidence. They’d basically conclude the files,” said Balaban. “Islam states the body has to be buried by sunrise. So they would be very quick to remove the body.” He trained 42 police officers during his time in Afghanistan. One of the challenges of policing in Afghanistan was the lack of addresses. “They don’t have addresses in Afghanistan. There’s all mud roads. There’s no street signs,” he said. Canadians provided GPS to make it easier to find locations than descriptions like “down this road three doors down with a red wall or red door.” See AFGHANISTAN, Page 3
Matt Kennedy with three of his hand-built guitars. Kennedy, who lives in Maple Ridge with his family and teaches at Thomas Haney Secondary, will be performing at the PNE. See story on Pages 22 and 23. Troy Landreville/TIMES
Man recovering after violent attack
A
24-year-old New Westminster man who was seriously injured in a violent attack on Wednesday is expected to survive. The man was found in the 21100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road just before 3:30 a.m. and was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital with life-threatening injuries. His condition has now been upgraded after surgery. Police won’t comment on where he was injured or what weapon was used other than to say it was a “blunt edge” weapon. Inspector Derren Lench said details about the attack are still “sketchy” but the victim is “very well known” to police. “We don’t know for sure the reason he was in our area to begin with. The obvious (thing) is he was
involved in a violent confrontation with other people,” said Lench. While investigating the attack police located an “insecure” residence nearby, which had a grow-op in it. Ridge Meadows RCMP’s Serious Crimes Unit executed a search warrant on the home and seized just over 1,300 marijuana plants. “At this time we don’t know if our victim is related to this grow-op or not, but we’ll be focusing part of our investigation around this,” said Lench. The victim is not cooperating with police, according to a media spokesperson. Police closed off a portion of Dewdney Trunk Road between Laity and 210 Street to all traffic during their investigation on Wednesday.
Todd Balaban came back from Afghanistan on Monday. Amy Steele/TIMES
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