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Canada's Role In The Invasion Of Afghanistan




On February 28th 2006, Canadian Brigadier General, David Fraser took over control of Allied forces in the country, replacing U.S. Gen. Karl Eikenberry .

In total, 15 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in the operation - the fourth highest number of casualties per nation in the Allied Force, behind the United States, Germany and Spain.
=Timeline=

SEPTEMBER 2001

Minister of National Defence Art Eggleton authorized more than 100 Canadian Forces members serving on military exchange programs in the US and other countries to participate in US operations conducted in response to the September 11 Terrorist Attacks .


OCTOBER 2001

Although not participating in the opening days of the invasion, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced on October 7th that Canada would contribute forces to the international force being formed to conduct a campaign against terrorism. General Ray Henault , the Chief Of The Defence Staff issued preliminary orders to several CF units, as Operation Apollo was established. It would stretch until October 2003.


APRIL 2002

A Friendly Fire Incident kills 4 Canadians, after US Major Harry Schmidt drops a bomb on their position, incorrectly believing they were enemies. It was the deadliest friendly-fire incident to Canadians since the Korean War . The dead are Sgt. Marc D. Leger , Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer , Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith .


AUGUST 2003

Operation Athena begins


JANUARY 2004

Jamie Murphy was killed by a suicide bomber who detonated a mortar round inside his Iltis , the first Canadian casualty to hostile forces since Cpl. Daniel Gunther was killed in Bosnia in 1993.


MARCH 2004

Canada commits $250million in aid to Afghanistan, and $5million to support The Coming Afghan Election {Link without Title}


FEBRUARY 2005

On February 13th Defence Minister Bill Graham announced Canada would be seeking to double their number of troops in Afghanistan by the coming summer. At the time, Canada had 600 troops stationed almost entirely in Kabul . {Link without Title}


AUGUST 2005

On August 3rd Col. Walter Semianiw signed over control of Operation Athena to Col. Steve Noonan


FEBRUARY 2006

On February 28th, command of Southern Afghanistan was transferred from U.S. Gen. Karl Eikenberry to Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser in a ceremony at Kandahar Airfield . Several hours later an IED detonated in front of a Canadian convoy, followed by an RPG Round and small-arms fire. There were no reported casualties from the incident. {Link without Title}


MARCH 2006

On March 2nd, a Canadian LAV III struck a civilian Taxi , killing Cpl. Paul Davis . Master Cpl. Tim Wilson died from injuries three days later.

On March 4th, a Taliban fighter struck Capt. Trevor Greene in the back of the head with an axe during a village meeting. This touched off a firefight that killed the attacker, and several other Taliban agents who had gathered. {Link without Title}

On March 28, Taliban led forces attacked an American outpost in Helmand province in the insuing fire fight Pte. Robert Costall, SFC. John Stone and Eight Afghans were killed, Three other Canadians were wounded in the fire fight. An Investigation is under way to determine if Pte. Costall was a victim of Friendly Fire. {Link without Title}


APRIL 2006

On April 22, Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Lieut. William Turner, Bdr. Myles Mansell and Cpl. Randy Payne were killed when a roadside bomb went off near the armoured G-Wagon they were travelling in.

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