Canada commits to extended stay in Afghanistan

Canada’s parliament voted to extend its mission in Afghanistan to 2011 if NATO supplies more troops and equipment to back up its forces in the volatile south.

Prime minister Stephen Harper’s government has been under growing pressure to withdraw Canada’s 2,500 troops as the death toll has mounted, now at 80 Canadian soldiers and a diplomat. The mission was set to expire in February 2009.

But the minority Conservative government and opposition Liberals agreed last month to vote together on the motion, which passed 198-77 today.

Liberals backed the extension after Mr Harper promised the mission would increase its focus on training and reconstruction.

Conservatives had declared the motion a confidence vote, which would have triggered early elections if it failed.

The extension of the mission is conditional on NATO providing 1,000 troops, helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft to back up forces in southern Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold.

Militants stepped up their attacks last year, making it the deadliest year in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime.

The violence has placed civilians increasingly in the line of fire and posed a challenge to NATO efforts to stabilise the country.

Troops from Canada, Britain, the Netherlands and the United States have borne the brunt of the resurgent Taliban, with support from Denmark, Romania, Estonia and non-NATO Australia.