Canada ends combat mission in Afghanistan

Canada formally ended its combat role in Afghanistan on Thursday, closing a mission that has cost 157 soldiers their lives since 2002.

Canadian troops remove equipment from an armoured vehicle at Kandahar Airfield military base in Kandahar Photo: AFP/GETTY

9:25PM BST 07 Jul 2011

The move adds to the burden of US and Afghan troops who are trying to prevent a Taliban rebound in the militants' southern stronghold where Canadian troops had been fighting in their bloodiest conflict since the Korean War.

Canada is withdrawing its combat units as the sixth largest troop-contributing nation, behind the US, Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Like Americans and Europeans, Canadians have grown weary of the war as it ears the 10-year mark.

While 2,850 Canadian soldiers are going home, 950 others have started streaming into Afghanistan to help train Afghan security forces to take the lead role in securing the country by 2014.

Canada passed the responsibility for two districts of Kandahar province to US forces at Kandahar Air Field during a ceremony held in a hall decorated with Canadian maple leaf flags. After remarks, handshakes and the exchange of military paperwork, troops held a moment of silence for their fallen comrades.

Since 2002, 157 Canadian troops, one diplomat, one journalist and two aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan.