Canadian troops hand over Kandahar battle zone to U.S.

Canadian troops hand over Kandahar battle zone to U.S.

2011-07-05 20:56:20 GMT+7 (ICT)

MA'SUM GAR, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Canada's Royal 22e Regiment battle group on Tuesday officially handed over their responsibility of the Panjwaii task force to U.S. forces.

Brigadier General Dean Milner signed a transfer of command document in Panjwaii District, Southern Afghanistan, which is located in the country's Kandahar Province, to formally hand over his command of the area to U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Miller who leads the 3rd Battalion, 21st U.S. Infantry Regiment.

Almost all Canadian troops have been shipped out of the region; however, Milner will still be leading U.S. troops in the area and some Canadian soldiers will remain for the upcoming weeks to help brief incoming U.S. forces, the Montreal Gazette reported.

Canada's military participation in southern Afghanistan began in 2006, and included two deadly battles, Operation Zahara and Operation Medusa. In all, 154 men and 3 women from Canada died in Afghanistan. In 2008, the Canadian Parliament ordered the end of Canada's military operations in the Middle Eastern country, setting the date for July.

During the ceremony, Milner noted that during the last eight months, Von Doo (22e Regiment), carried out 3,200 patrols and 130 deliberate operations, found nearly 300 weapons caches, 250 improvised explosive devices (IED), and conducted 950 shuras, which are meetings with Afghan elders.

Major Andre Girard stated that their primary goal was to find caches where insurgents hid weapons and IED components, mainly in the fields and abandoned buildings in the Nakhonay region.

"We found three separate caches that were blown in place," 1st Sgt Justin Grieve said, as Girard added that several DFCs (directional fragmentation charges) were found, as well as casings for making DFCs, weapons, and ammunition.

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