Two Canadian helicopter operations in the past month were part of preparation for a massive and heavily-publicized upcoming assault by British, American and Afghan troops in volatile Helmand province, Canadian Forces officials revealed Friday.
A pair of Canadian Chinook helicopters ran so-called shaping exercises - one last month, one in the past week - involving Danish and British troops in northern and central Helmand respectively.
The Chinook helicopters can carry about 40 troops at a time, and dropped foreign troops into Helmand province, west of Kandahar province where Canadian operations are focused. Both volatile provinces are expected to be the focus of renewed Western attacks with the arrival of additional American troops in the coming months.
The shaping exercises are common in advance of a large-scale assault, such as Operation Moshtarak, the upcoming Helmand assault being heavily publicized by British and American leaders.
Operation Moshtarak will focus on a region south of Nad Ali in Helmand and also involve Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Moshtarak is Dari for "together," and the name "is intended to reflect the joint nature of the operation," the British MOD said. Canadians have trained the ANA soldiers extensively.
The Chinook operations Canadians completed involve a host of risks, including dusty terrain that can eliminate a pilot's field of vision and the risk of insurgent counter-fire.
"It's been a very hot area pretty much since the beginning," Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Smyth, commander of Canada's helicopter operations in the Afghan mission, said of Helmand while describing the two completed missions. "It's kind of the bus driver thing. We drive in, drop them [the troops]off, then they do their thing on the ground."
Western coalition forces have turned to air transport as a way of reducing the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, which are makeshift roadside bombs that have caused the death of dozens of Canadian soldiers.
The revelation of Canadian assistance comes as American and British troops telegraph their coming strategy, in apparent hope of minimizing casualties.
The British, American and ANA forces hope to drive the Taliban insurgents from Helmand, and hold it until the ANA and Afghan government can establish control of the region.
"We are fixing the enemy with a beady eye. We are taking him on wherever he is most virulent," British Lieutenant General Nick Parker, deputy commander of the multilateral International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, told the Mirror newspaper.
His bold declaration follows a similar one by Canada's top soldier, Brigadier-General Daniel Menard, who told The Globe last week he hoped to "break the back" of the Taliban this summer in nearby Kandahar province. Buoyed by the arrival of additional American troops, Brig.-Gen. Menard is confident his offensive can be a turning point in the province.
Speaking to reporters Friday at Kandahar Air Field where he attended a memorial for eight deceased Canadian soldiers, Kandahar governor Tooryalai Wesa said Friday he was confident that civilians would pay attention to the publicized strategies to avoid finding themselves caught in the midst of a civilian operation.
"People will be safe. People will be in good hands. We will be working with the people to keep them safe, and be asking for their cooperation. We definitely expect them to do what we are telling them," Mr. Wesa said.