Canada in the War in Afghanistan
Canada's role in the Afghanistan War began in late 2001. Canada sent its first element of soldiers secretly in October 2001 from Joint Task Force 2, and the first contingents of regular Canadian Armed Forces troops arrived in Afghanistan in January–February 2002. The operations were aimed at identifying and neutralizing Al-Qaeda members in that country and toppling the Taliban regime which was supporting international terrorism. Canada's role in the Afghan conflict grew in 2006 when Canadian troops relieved US forces in Kandahar province, taking command of the multinational brigade in the region during a major Taliban offensive.
Later operations in Afghanistan focused on security, reconstruction, and training the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. The CAF made up the bulk of these missions, supplemented by personnel from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Foreign Affairs Canada, and the Canadian International Development Agency. Major reconstruction projects included the Dahla Dam and irrigation system, improvement of roads and bridges, construction of schools, and immunization programs.
The CAF had the highest per-capita casualty rate among coalition members. 159 Canadian soldiers died on missions in theatre and another 22 died in non-combat circumstances. Public opposition to the war grew over time, and the financial cost of Canada's contribution to the war was estimated as high as $18.5 billion by 2011. The last CAF soldiers left Afghanistan in March 2014.
Background
The Canadian Armed Forces' role in post-Cold War conflicts has been that of a peacekeeping force, focused on new techniques to contain violence and restore functioning civil societies. After Canadian peacekeeping troops came under fire in the 1993 Medak Pocket incident—a 15-hour firefight during the Croatian War of Independence—it became clear to Canadian military leadership that the rules of engagement had to allow peacekeeping forces to make a rapid tactical transition to an offensive force when attacked. This notion shaped Canadian training and military operations in the subsequent decades.In peacekeeping missions in Bosnia, Somalia, and Haiti, Canadian and NATO troops have sought to deepen their cooperation with local and international development organizations, working together towards reconstruction goals. The approach to Canadian involvement in Afghanistan was based on the same model.
In 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks and the US declaration of the war on terror, Canadian Minister of National Defence Art Eggleton advised Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to authorize more than 100 Canadian Forces members then serving on military exchange programs in the US and other countries to participate in US operations in Afghanistan. Eggleton summed up the dominant thinking in the government at the time: "Any Canadian military deployment to Afghanistan may well be similar to a situation in Eritrea and Ethiopia where we went in on the first wave, we helped establish the stabilization, the basis for ongoing peace support operations that would come after... but then turned it over to somebody else." The operations were aimed at identifying and neutralizing Al-Qaeda members in that country, as well as toppling the Taliban regime, which was supporting international terrorism.
In addition to standard combat training, mission-specific training has been part of a Canadian soldier's preparation for service on peacekeeping, peacemaking, and stability operations since the 1960s. This played a significant role in the war in Afghanistan. Soldiers needed to be aware of local traditions, beliefs and social institutions, and why groups "might oppose the establishment of peace and order." This training, accompanied by psychological triaging with a soldier's family, made the Afghanistan deployment the most-prepared of any overseas CAF mission. There was a clear goal during training: that success of the mission was a sustainable Afghan government that could serve the needs of its peoples. It was this notion that shaped the Canadian and NATO approach toward reconstructing Afghanistan.
2001–2002: Operation Apollo, Initial deployment
General Ray Henault, Chief of the Defence Staff, issued preliminary orders to several CAF units as Operation Apollo was established. The Canadian commitment to US operations in Afghanistan was originally planned to last until October 2003.Approximately 40 Joint Task Force 2 soldiers were sent to southern Afghanistan in early December 2001. The Canadian public was not informed of the deployment, and Sean M. Maloney's book Enduring the Freedom reported that JTF2 had been deployed without Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's knowledge in early October 2001.
Regular forces arrived in Kandahar in January–February 2002. In March, three Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry snipers fought alongside US Army units during Operation Anaconda. During the operation the team twice broke the kill record for a long-distance sniper kill set during the Vietnam War. Operation Anaconda was also the first time since the Korean War that Canadian soldiers relieved American soldiers in a combat situation. Canadian forces also undertook Operation Harpoon in the Shah-i-Kot Valley. Other forces in the country provided garrison and security troops.
The Tarnak Farm incident occurred on 18 April 2002, when an American F-16 jet dropped a laser-guided bomb on a group of soldiers from the 3rd Battalion PPCLI Battle Group. The soldiers were conducting night-time training on a designated live-fire range, but the American pilots mistook their gunfire for a Taliban insurgent attack. The friendly fire incident killed four Canadians and wounded eight. Their deaths were the first Canadian deaths in Afghanistan, and the first in a combat zone since the Korean War.
2003–2005: Operation Athena
In August 2003, the Canadian Forces moved to the northern city of Kabul where it became the commanding station of the newly formed International Security Assistance Force. Canada dubbed this Operation Athena and a 1,900-strong Canadian task force provided assistance for improving civilian infrastructure, such as well-digging and repair of local buildings.In March 2004, Canada committed $250 million in aid to Afghanistan and $5 million to support the 2004 Afghan election.
On 13 February 2005, Defence Minister Bill Graham announced Canada was doubling the number of troops in Afghanistan by the coming summer, from 600 troops in Kabul to 1200.
In spring 2005, officials announced that the Canadian Forces would return to the volatile Kandahar Province, taking command of the region from US forces. Stage one of Operation Athena ended in December 2005 with the fulfillment of the stated aim of "rebuilding the democratic process" in Afghanistan.
2006: Operation Archer
followed Athena beginning in February 2006. Unlike the ISAF-led Athena, Archer was part of the US military command. By spring 2006, Canada had a major role in southern Afghanistan, with a battle group of 2,300 soldiers based at Kandahar. Canada also commanded the multinational brigade for Regional Command South, a main military force in the region, with Canadian Brigadier-General David Fraser formally taking over from US forces on 28 February.In May 2006, the Canadian government extended Canadian military commitments to Afghanistan by two years, replacing earlier plans to withdraw soldiers in 2006. Foreign Affairs Canada stated that the commitment would employ a "whole of government approach", in which the Provincial Reconstruction Team, utilizing personnel from the military, Foreign Affairs, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, would provide a dual role of security as well as reconstruction of the country and political structure.
On 31 July 2006, the NATO-led ISAF assumed command of the south of the country and the Canadian Task Force was transferred from the jurisdiction of Archer to Athena.
2006–2009: Taliban resurgence
When Canadian Forces returned to Kandahar, the Taliban began a major offensive. There were a record number of attacks against Canadian soldiers that spring, including six deaths.Operation Mountain Thrust was launched in the beginning of summer 2006, in response to the gathering of Taliban forces in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. Canadians of the 1 PPCLI Battle Group were one of the leading combatants and the first fighting when the Battle of Panjwaii took place. Daily firefights, artillery bombardments, and allied airstrikes turned the tides of the battle in favour of the Canadians. After the operation concluded, Taliban fighters returned to the Panjwai District in numbers that had not been seen before in a single area in the post-Anaconda war.
The Canadian Forces came under NATO command at the end of July, and the 1 RCR Battle Group replaced the PPCLI. Canadians launched Operation Medusa in September in an attempt to clear the areas of Taliban fighters from Panjwai. The fighting of Operation Medusa led to a second, fiercer Battle of Panjwai in which daily gun-battles, ambushes, and mortar and rocket attacks targeted the Canadian troops. An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Taliban fighters were reluctant to give up the area, and after being surrounded by the Canadian Forces, they dug in and fought a conventional style battle. After weeks of fighting, the Taliban were cleared from the Panjwai area and Canadian reconstruction efforts began.
On 15 September 2006, the Canadian government committed a squadron of Leopard C2 tanks from Lord Strathcona's Horse and an additional 200 to 500 troops to Afghanistan.
On 1 November 2006, Fraser stepped down as head of NATO Regional Command South, which was rotated to Dutch command.
On 15 December 2006, the Canadians launched Operation Falcon Summit into Zhari District, to the north of Panjwai, as part of the NATO-led Operation Mountain Fury. During Operation Falcon Summit, the Canadians gained control of several key villages and towns that were former Taliban havens, such as Howz-E Madad. During the first week of the operation, massive Canadian artillery and tank barrages were carried out in a successful attempt to clear pockets of Taliban resistance. The operation concluded with plans to build a new road linking Panjwai with Kandahar's Highway 1 that runs east–west through Zhari.
In February 2007, the 2 RCR Battle Group took over combat operations in several districts of Kandahar Province.
From 15 July 2007 to February 2008, units from CFB Valcartier near Quebec City served in Kandahar filling most positions in the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team and providing the protective company for the Provincial Reconstruction Team. The 3rd Battalion Royal 22e Régiment Battle Group, with supporting troops from 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and a composite tank squadron from Lord Strathcona's Horse conducted operations on the ground. This rotation reflected a change in tactics, with emphasis on systematically clearing, holding and building in the districts of Panjwai and Zhari, while also protecting Arghandab District and the Afghan–Pakistan border in the area of Spin Boldak. The focus was on intimately working with the Afghan army, police and civil administration to hold cleared areas rather than subsequently lose them to returning Taliban, as had previously occurred throughout the south and east.
In February 2008, the Van Doos contingent was replaced by a force centred on a PPCLI battle group. Also in February, Canadian Major-General Marc Lessard took command of Regional Command South for nine months.
On 13 March 2008, the Harper Conservative government's motion to extend the military mission past February 2009 into 2011 was approved in a parliamentary vote with the support of the Liberal opposition. The extension of almost another three years had a focus on reconstruction and training of Afghan troops, and set a firm pullout date, calling for Canadian troops to leave Afghanistan by December 2011. While the Liberals voted in favour of the Conservatives' confidence motion, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois voted against it, having consistently rejected any extension of the military mission. NDP leader Jack Layton said "There are millions of Canadians who don't want this strategy to continue. The population prefers a road to peace."
As part of the new US administration's policy on Afghanistan, 17,000 new US troops were deployed to the country with a third stationed in Kandahar province. On 10 August 2009, Brig-Gen. Jonathan Vance of Task Force Kandahar transferred the authority of some of Kandahar Province to Col. Harry Tunnell IV, commander of the US Army's 5th Stryker Brigade. Canadian troops were then stationed primarily around Kandahar City and the surrounding districts.