Intelligence

JTF2 targets Taliban, Qaeda

Militants killed by elite commandos

Ottawa to detail unit's exploits

OTTAWA—Canadian special forces soldiers in southern Afghanistan have killed Taliban and Al Qaeda rebels over dozens of operations in recent months as they work secretly in small units, military sources say.

The modest contingent of elite and highly trained troops from Joint Task Force 2 is an integral part of coalition efforts to stem the tide of insurgency that has risen since campaigning began for tomorrow's parliamentary elections.

JTF2 commandos have joined American and Australian counterparts in fighting that has claimed more than 1,200 lives in six months, say the Canadian defence sources.

Some engagements are long range; others close in. Some involve infiltration into enemy compounds and "behind enemy lines" — though no lines exist in the mountainous and desert terrain where they operate.

Using specialized weapons and equipment, Canadian snipers have played their deadly cat-and-mouse games at night and in the 50-degree heat of Afghan summer days.

Many of their victims — described as "murderers and scumbags" by chief of defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier — never knew what hit them, one source said.

Beyond acknowledging that JTF2 is in Afghanistan, defence officials and the federal government have maintained their usual strict silence about the unit's exploits.

They plan a Tuesday briefing, where Defence Minister Bill Graham promised more details will be provided about JTF2.

"They're doing counter-insurgency operations ... quite vigorous ones," said one official.

In an attack blamed on the Taliban, a roadside bomb hit a bus near a voting centre in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province yesterday, killing three civilians and wounding seven.

And gunmen killed candidate Abdul Hadi in southern Helmand province. He was the seventh candidate killed in the lead-up to the election. Four elections workers also have been slain.

canadian press, Associated Press

September 17, 2005 at 10:17 AM in Espionage - general | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home