Last Combat Mission in Afghanistan Completed

An Afghan-led sweep through southern Kandahar marks the last deployment of Canadian soldiers for a battlefield operation.

A two-week mission through Kandahar's Panjwai district that wrapped up this week was the final combat operation for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. The operation was led by Afghan forces, as 1,500 troops marched – with assistance from American and Canadian soldiers – through a region that last year was still under Taliban control. No casualties were reported throughout the two weeks. Members of the Quebec-based Royal 22e Regiment, nicknamed the Van Doos, will begin rotating out of Kandahar over the next month as Canada changes its mission focus from combat to training for the next three years. All told, 156 Canadian soldiers have died in the war since 2002.