Soldiers will train Afghan army and police
Canada will send an additional 90 troops to Afghanistan to help train its inexperienced army and local police forces, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced Thursday in Kabul. This brings the number of deployed Canadian troops to just under 3,000. The minister says the trainers will stay until troops begin withdrawing in July of next year. The announcement came alongside a new poll by research firm EKOS, which says half of Canadians oppose Canada’s military deployment in Afghanistan—while the other half are in support—and 60 per cent oppose extending the mission beyond its current end date of July 2011.