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| Afghanistan |
| Canada to send more troops and tanks to Afghanistan |
| 2006-09-15 |
| Canada will send between 200 and 500 additional soldiers and a squadron of Leopard tanks to Afghanistan to battle resurgent Taliban fighters, the Canadian government said Friday. The extra soldiers and equipment are "a necessary response to the Taliban," the Department of National Defence said in a release. The department said it will add an infantry company from Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos, 15 Leopard tanks based in Edmonton and armoured engineering vehicles called Badgers to help with rebuilding projects. Four tanks will be shipped by air to Afghanistan as quickly as possible, Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, told reporters. The tanks will help battle the Taliban, which has changed its tactics and been fighting more conventional battles. The reinforcements will raise the total number of soldiers to about 2,500. The department's news release said there are currently "more than 2,000 members of the Canadian Forces" in Afghanistan. However, military officials say the number is closer to 2,300, adding that the number of soldiers in the country fluctuates constantly. |
| Posted by:Al Coholic |
| #9 I've always assumed it was the Northern Alliance. Could be wrong. Certainly they pushed as far south as Kandahar, in the early days. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2006-09-15 23:36 |
| #8 This "Northern Alliance" |
| Posted by: tipper 2006-09-15 23:24 |
| #7 Northern Alliance? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-15 23:19 |
| #6 Not an expert either...but the screw up at Tora Bora could have something to do with it. They let Binny get away. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2006-09-15 23:15 |
| #5 Can someone help me out here? I'm not from a military background, so maybe I'm missing something. When we first went into Afghanistan after 9/11, it seemed to me that most of the fighting was done by the Northern Alliance and we supplied logistic and air support. These guys knew the terrain like the back of their hands and knew who was who in the zoo, so they could go straight to where the Taliban were. I'm not hearing much about their use these days, it's mainly what the Western allies are doing. Any reason why this is so? |
| Posted by: tipper 2006-09-15 23:00 |
| #4 Amazing how much Canada under Steven Harper makes you forget the Paul Martin days. I worked with the RCAF (never really felt comfortable saying Canadian Forces-Air) in the 70's and 80's and found them to be solid troops, the kind you can count on when you need to count on someone. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-09-15 22:41 |
| #3 Isn't it nice that our neighbor is an Ally once again? Been about 40 years. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2006-09-15 21:52 |
| #2 Thank you Brothers. Right track you are on. Bless you. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-09-15 20:36 |
| #1 shame on the French, Germans and Spanish. Kick them out of NATO |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-15 19:52 |