Mr. Chairman, honourable members of Parliament, good morning.
I'm here to provide you with a short update of Canadian Forces operations in Afghanistan. My presentation will aim to update you primarily on security issues from the last several weeks, and I'm prepared following my presentation to provide any clarification on the issues presented, if I can.
As you asked me last time I was here before the committee, I intend to provide you with some additional information on the reconstruction efforts. I have provided the clerk with a CD that has a number of photos on a lot of the work that has been done, and you could see the clerk if you want a pictorial representation of some of the Canadian reconstruction efforts.
Understanding that I'll be followed by General Henault, chairman of the NATO military committee, who will provide you with information from a higher NATO level, let me jump right to regional command south, where the main effort over the last several weeks has continued to be the provision of security in the region in setting conditions for further development, particularly in Kandahar City and the Kandahar Afghan development zone, which are very important, not only to Afghans but to Canadians. That's the area we operate in.
Overall, the Taliban have encountered difficulties in mounting significant operations in the south. They continue to resort to bullying and in some cases injuring or killing local Afghans, and they indiscriminately use land mines, improvised explosive devices, and rocket-propelled grenades against Afghan national security forces.
The job of ISAF in the southern region has been focused on protecting Afghans and those trying to help them by attempting to disrupt Taliban actions, seizing their weapons, and the like. The arrival of milder spring weather and the end of the poppy harvest has not resulted in a dramatic increase in Taliban activity, and this is a good sign down in the southern region, especially if I compare it to the situation we found ourselves in last year, or even the years before that. I see a considerable reduction.
In Helmand province, the U.K.-led successful operations in the vicinity of Sangin, which I briefed you on last time during Operation Achilles—which you'll recall was aimed at, in part, creating the necessary conditions to help the international community improve the Kajaki Dam—have come to a conclusion. Security presence operations by the U.K. and Afghan national security forces continue in and around the Kajaki Dam to permit its refurbishment.
As you will have heard, yesterday a Chinook helicopter crashed in this area. A Canadian Forces member, Master Corporal Priede, was on this aircraft. I can confirm that Master Corporal Priede did die. However, the details of the incident are pretty sketchy at this point. It will take a thorough investigation to determine what happened, and that will occur over the days and weeks ahead.
At this point, my thoughts are very much with the family of Master Corporal Priede. He's a hero for what he's accomplished in helping do his bit in ISAF and helping local Afghans.
The Canadian artillery support that was provided to Task Force Helmand during Operation Achilles is now complete, and those guns, a pair of howitzers, have returned to Kandahar province.
Task Force Helmand now has switched its main focus to the provision of security to the provincial capital and the Afghan development zone of Lashkar Gah and the area south of Highway 1 to provide security and allow reconstruction and development projects to continue.
In Oruzgan and Zabul provinces, the focus hasn't changed much since I've briefed you over the months. It continues to be focused on the provincial centres of Tarin Kowt and Zabul, where ISAF looks to enhance Afghan development zones and to maintain security along Highway 1.
Task Force Kandahar, based primarily on the Canadian Joint Task Force Afghanistan, remains focused on security, reconstruction, and development in the Panjwai-Zhari area of operations since I was last here—really, no change to that.
The green oval on the left-hand side of the chart before you points to the Zhari–Panjwai area, where the bulk of our battle group effort has been focused. Our aim in this region is quite simple—to ensure security.
The positive trends that I briefed you on during my last appearance continue, as we see more families. Some 30,000 people have actually returned to this area over the last several months, and the numbers continue to grow. Also, the positive economic revival, albeit slow, is indeed evident through this region.
Our commitment to the Afghans in this region is very strong. Hundreds of Afghan and Canadian soldiers are involved in a variety of activities that include security of key routes, such as Route Summit, and the patrols that aim to protect and shield local Afghans from Taliban activities. For example, you will have seen the media reporting on Operation Hoover. This one-day operation was part of the ongoing effort to support local Afghans in securing the Zhari-Panjwai region. The operation supported Afghan National Army efforts to discover Taliban elements in the region and to seize their weapons. Operation Hoover involved hundreds of Afghan national security forces, and this is a very positive trend. The number of Afghans involved in their own security in this region now number in the hundreds. This is remarkable and is a positive trend.
While engagements with the insurgents were actually limited during this operation, Afghan national security forces and the Joint Task Force Afghanistan achieved the aim of demonstrating freedom of movement and disrupting any Taliban attempts to consolidate in the region. However, and unfortunately, in the course of that operation Corporal Matthew McCully, a member of the Joint Task Force Afghanistan operational mentor and liaison team, affectionately known by the troops as the OMLT, was killed. All of us in the CF pour out our sympathy to Corporal McCully's family. Our soldiers are putting their lives on the line every day to help Afghans to achieve a better future. We can all be proud of their selfless accomplishments and we are humbled by their sacrifices.
Let me now turn to the green oval on the right-hand side of the slide, down towards the bottom. The battle group reconnaissance squadron has deployed out of the Zhari–Panjwai area and to forward operating base, Spin Buldak. Spin Buldak is a town right on the Afghan–Pakistan border. From there, the squadron has been defining patterns of life in the Spin Buldak district, determining the effectiveness and disposition of Afghan national security forces and locating Taliban lines of communication. This operation has been part of the effort to improve border security and to facilitate the expansion of the Kandahar Afghan development zone. Significant progress has been made in developing an understanding of this region, and I would anticipate that they will be there for many weeks to come.
Confidence-building does not end at the Afghan border, and I'd like to highlight another important ISAF Canadian initiative in this regard. Brigadier General Grant and Brigadier General Niazi—General Niazi is the commander of the Pakistan military's northern sector—co-chaired the fifth border flag meeting in Chaman, Pakistan, on May 9. The border flag meetings are an ISAF initiative conducted at various Afghan and Pakistani border locations. They were created as a means to bring together Pakistani and Afghan military officers from the border areas to discuss regional issues of mutual concern, with the coordination of ISAF.
This was the first meeting coordinated by the JTF, the Joint Task Force in Afghanistan, and the second chaired by Brigadier-General Grant. This meeting brings together important security officers from both sides of the Afghan and Pakistani borders. There has been significant progress made in the setting up of radio communications between the two frontiers to help defuse inflammatory situations and to coordinate operations in the border areas.
Brigadier-General Niazi has noted that this border flag meeting was an opportunity to make new friends and he congratulated the JTF for its activities in Afghanistan, which he said contributed to the security of Pakistan. Brigadier-General Grant emphasized the fact that security issues should be worked on together and that mutually acceptable solutions should be decided upon by both sides of the border.
Cross-border communications have long been strained in this region. Continued bilateral discussions are a significant accomplishment. Regardless of how modest they might outwardly appear, this is good Canadian action, as I see it, the ability to sit down and negotiate. This is a great initiative that obviously will continue.
In its role as a facilitator, ISAF can support a process to develop and sustain this essential dialogue at a regional level. The next meeting will occur later this summer.
Turning now to reconstruction, let me provide a little more information than I usually do on this important activity. As I mentioned, I've provided the clerk with a CD that has many more examples of the photos of our reconstruction efforts. You can review the CD at your leisure.
Canada has provided significant assistance to agriculture, irrigation, and rural development in Kandahar province. For example, over 10 kilometres of canals have been built and 14 kilometres of drainage systems repaired. While that might not sound like much, when you're living in a desert, each inch counts.
In addition, over 1,000 wells have been dug and 800 hand pumps provided. Four large water reservoirs are now in operation, and many kilometres of water supply networks have been established in the province.
The United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan began a clearance operation in the Panjwayi district. NATO financed the project to the tune of $3.8 million. It will involve up to 300 mine clearers and 100 security guards coming from 4 different contractors.
The nine-month project will clear almost 300 hectares in the Panjwayi and Zhari districts. There will be regular coordination between the service and the JTF in Afghanistan throughout the operation. Brigadier-General Grant, the JTF (Afghanistan) commander, signed a letter of agreement detailing the support activities for the action centre, including the delivery of an operation intended to establish conditions for the arrival of other international and non-governmental organizations in the region.
The real effect of Joint Task Force Afghanistan development efforts is starting to bear fruit. The national solidarity program, paid largely by Canada, in the Kandahar province has been initiated in the majority of districts. Created by the Government of Afghanistan, the NSP gives rural Afghans a voice in their country's development through the election of community leaders to community development councils, or CDCs. The program supports the CDCs to lead their communities through processes to identify, plan, manage, and monitor their own development projects.
As I've described to you before, it's not Canadians who need to be out in front doing this development but the local Afghans themselves. Our PRT is working overtime across government to create these development councils. As a result, communities are empowered to make decisions and control resources during all stages of the project cycle. The PRT facilitates the creation of CDCs in local communities and development efforts with local elders, through the shura.
There are now 500 registered community development councils across the province that are linking into project funds available through the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. International money comes in at the top and will funnel through this ministry. Certainly in Kandahar province there's a fair degree of activity.
Another positive sign is the active involvement of the Kandahar governor in this process; it doesn't point to an improvement in the governance. Now, while he lacks the bureaucracy to back him up, he does his work on the end of a cellphone with local elders. He would be much better off if he had a large bureaucracy under him, but that will come in time. He is—and Afghans do see progress—working toward solutions to improve their lives.
Finally, facilitating the growth and independence of Afghan national security forces through education, the provision of equipment, the building or outfitting of police stations and check-points with vehicles is a key component of the Canadian Forces' efforts in the Kandahar province. We were involved in the facilitation of the construction and outfitting of the above-mentioned police stations and some 15 temporary and permanent check-points with vehicles in the province.
I've only been able to cover a few elements of the reconstruction. The CD shows many more. I'd be happy to provide additional information, if required by the committee.
On the next slide, I'll just focus a little bit more on the last several weeks of the PRT, which has aimed its main effort in the Zhari District. Not only are we conducting operations there to reassure the local Afghans that we're going to stay and to bring their security forces to bear, but it's also where the PRT works to help with development to facilitate a little bit of reconstruction, and where we really want the international community to come and give us a hand.
The slide depicts a number of the activities that have been accomplished or undertaken. And while I don't have the time to address them all, let me give you a couple of examples.
The provincial director of education held an event to commemorate teachers in Kandahar province. The PRT assisted with the provision of radios—to add to those the director has already received—as part of a plan to connect all of the director's teachers to some form of media, no matter how far away they reside from densely populated urban areas.
The teachers' day took place on May 24. It consisted of a ceremony, including speeches by the director of education and the governor of Kandahar. There were songs by student choirs, a presentation of awards and a luncheon, things we take for granted back here.
The soldiers and the civilians who work within the PRT facilitate many, many activities like that, but it is one that was accomplished on May 24.
Another example is the 20 trucks for the newly identified Afghan national police, which arrived at the regional education centre and are awaiting distribution. They are to be distributed in Kandahar province to replace the existing vehicles or to increase their number.
Moreover, counsellors from the civilian police facilitated the issue of summer uniforms for the Afghan national police at provincial headquarters, to be sent to substations or check-points in the province. A computer system was provided to the technical directors by the counsellors of the civilian police, to help them with the distribution and inventory of the uniforms.
Finally, on May 15 the provincial reconstruction team and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission played host to a meeting on human rights with Kandahar's Afghan national security forces and other security and justice sector leadership. The workshop was a constructive first step in what appears will be an ongoing dialogue between the security forces and the AIHRC. At the conclusion of the meeting, participants signed a short declaration outlining their commitment to human rights and the rule of law, with particular focus on individuals in custody, under investigation, and undergoing trial. Again, it's a small step, but I think a very positive one as we try to help focus Afghans on their own judicial and security reform.
On the next slide you will see that the strategic advisory team continues to busy itself with many important initiatives. Again, I could spend a considerable amount of time talking about all these initiatives, but I'll limit this to just two.
The independent commission on administrative reform and the public service is the main agency in Afghanistan for the reform process of the public administration in general. The United Nations supports the establishment of a national framework for the education and development of Afghani officials. Within the commission, the SAT, the Strategic Advisory Team, assisted with the submission of four evaluation reports on the reconstruction service and Afghan development for World Bank projects. The SAT provided assistance in many areas, but served mainly to provide assistance for the written English.
Again, they are small steps, but it is assistance that Afghans need to help them do planning and formalize some of their key activities.
On the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, the SAT is involved in two major initiatives. The first is to advertise for the hiring of a project implementation unit that will provide the ministry with a badly needed engineering department to move a backlog of rehabilitation projects forward, while performing capacity-building to hand over this responsibility to the ministry within three years.
The second initiative is a contract for out-of-country training that the ministry firefighting students will undergo. This internationally compliant training is crucial for airport firefighting if the ministry is to meet its international civil requirements and take the task from ISAF. These milestones could have lasting impact on the civil aviation sector in Afghanistan. So the SAT continues to assist the bureaucracy in drawing up strategic plans. It is tremendously important to open airheads. It's not simply a Canadian activity; it's country-wide. To see this sort of activity going on is a good measure.
I don't want to be over the top again and dispel some of the challenges, but certainly you see the activities your SAT is up to.
Until May the Canadian Forces observer, mentoring, and liaison team, or OMLT, was responsible for the mentorship of one Afghan National Army battalion, or Kandak, as it's referred to, within the Kandahar province.
I remember when I first came to the committee we were talking about dozens, then there were a couple of hundred, and now we're talking about hundreds of ANA. It started as a very small step forward in Kandahar province. There was almost no Afghan National Army when we first arrived. We saw that build up to one Afghan National Army battalion that our troops were involved with. In fact, Corporal McCully was working with this Afghan battalion when he was killed.
As the Afghan National Army continues to expand, so too will its presence in Kandahar province. On May 15, Canadian Forces assumed mentorship for the Afghan National Army brigade headquarters responsible for the Kandahar province from the U.S. embedded training team. This was a significant milestone, since it represented a continuing trend toward Afghans assuming responsibility for their own security in the south. We anticipate in the months ahead that two additional Kandaks will deploy to Kandahar province, along with combat support and combat service support elements.
The addition of this capacity to the Afghan National Army will complete the capability of setting up the Afghan National Army so that they can sustain two operational kandaks and a brigade headquarters—
