Canada starts Afghan withdrawal planning

OTTAWA, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The Canadian military has been ordered to start making plans for withdrawing from its combat role in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, officials said.

The Defense Department confirmed Thursday night that Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk issued instructions to officers to begin logistical planning to get the country's 2,800 troops and all of their equipment out of Afghanistan by 2011, the Canwest News Service reported.

In September, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told U.S. leaders in Washington the mission had to have a defined end-date.

"In 2011, we will have been in Afghanistan almost as long as we were in the two world wars combined," Harper said.

Last month, Defense Minister Peter MacKay told a parliamentary committee some Canadian troops might remain in Afghanistan after 2011 in a non-combat role in reconstruction assignments, the report said.

Since 2002, 133 Canadian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.