Chief of Defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier says the focus of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan has shifted to bolstering the country's national security forces.
As the Feb. 2009 deadline for Canada's mission in the war-torn country approaches, Hillier said the tactics used by his military on the ground are working.
"And now the question simply is, how much support can we give to the rapidly developing Afghan National Amy, and where can we step up to help the Afghan police who are much further behind?" Hiller told reporters at Kandahar airfield on Sunday.
Hillier met with the top leadership of the Canadian forces over the weekend in Kandahar to discuss strategy and the state of Canada's military efforts in Afghanistan.
He said there is still much work left to do in Canada's mandate in the country, but he added that in the 18 months that remain, "we can accomplish a heck of a lot . . . "
Hillier said he was encouraged by what he's hearing from Canadian soldiers on the ground who work with and train the Afghan National Army (ANA).
"My soldiers told me when I was here the last two times in early May and back in March, this battalion is doing extremely well,'' he said, as quoted in a Canadian Press article on Sunday. "What they said was 'Hey sir, it's like looking in a mirror to see us doing our own skills and drills. These guys are good.'"
Hillier says the military now plans to increase ground training, procure better equipment for the ANA soldiers, and assign more soldiers from Canadian battle groups to work with new ANA grads.
There are two full battalions of ANA soldiers at work in Afghanistan, and another is set to graduate in July. Hillier said the situation is a marked improvement from this time last year, when the strength of the ANA was virtually zero.
Hillier concedes the Afghan National Police, meanwhile, need more nurturing. He said the Taliban realizes the police are the weaker of the country's security forces and that's why they're the targets of increasing attacks.
A bomb ripped through a police bus in Kabul on Sunday, killing more than 35 people and wounding at least 35 others.
Afghan police and security forces have increasingly been targeted by militants. At least 307 have been killed this year alone, according to a count by The Associated Press.
CTV's Paul Workman in Kandahar said a Canadian commander told him Afghan police remain a "soft target" for the Taliban.
"They don't have the kind of heavy duty armour, heavy weapons that the military does, both the Canadian and NATO military and the Afghan military, and that they seem to have become the new prime target of the Taliban," said Workman.
With a report from the Canadian Press
