Canadians Toughen Border Security in Afghanistan

Canadians have begun what may be one of their riskiest missions yet in Afghanistan: opening a new front on the border with Pakistan, in order to stem the tide of insurgents and suicide bombers feeding the ranks of the Taliban.

Canadians have begun what may be one of their riskiest missions yet in Afghanistan: opening a new front on the border with Pakistan, in order to stem the tide of insurgents and suicide bombers feeding the ranks of the Taliban.


The lawless region right across the border is also where the Taliban leadership, including al Qaeda's Osama Bin Laden, are believed to be hiding.


Coalition troops have been engaged in active combat in southern Afghanistan in recent months because of an escalation of attacks by Taliban fighters and their supporters. Violence in the region has reached its worst level since 2001.


Coalition forces say they have killed 620 insurgents in the latest offensive against the Taliban. Nineteen coalition troops have died, including three Canadians.


To stem this deadly tide of attackers, Canadian commanders have sent troops to patrol the volatile border regions.


CTV's Steve Chao visited the border region shortly after two suicide bombers were captured. The border town where they crossed, Spin Boldak, is a major gateway from Pakistan into southern Afghanistan, long known as a favoured entry point for Taliban fighters and weapons.


Chao described it as "a chaotic jungle of people and vehicles."


As an Afghan intelligence officer interrogated the two captured men, one of them admitted they were sent in as bombers.


"We are from Pakistan," the man said. "We were trained to be suicide bombers."


Canadians are also teaching the border guards how to search for explosives and spot potential bombers.


"We are trying our best to stop our enemies from coming in," border guard Abdul Karim told Chao, "but there are too many of them."


There is fresh evidence daily of Taliban success. When a suicide bomber detonated in front of a general's compound, one Afghan police officer was killed, and three were critically wounded, Chao reported.


Another reason commanders want troops along the border is to improve safety on Afghanistan's main north-south highway, Chao said.


Originally built with the help of U.S. government financing in the 1960s, the highway runs 389 kilometres from Kabul to Kandahar and handles all major north-south highway traffic in the country.

More than 35 per cent of Afghanistan's population lives within 50 kilometers of the highway and restoring it has been a key goal of President Hamid Karzai.


But Taliban hijackings remain common on the infamous Highway One, also known as Ambush Alley.


"To be honest I'm really scared driving," truck driver Abdul Samad told Chao. "Many people I know have been killed or kidnapped by the Taliban."


"It's one of the main roads bringing goods into Afghanistan," Chao reported. "And the military knows: improve the economy and Afghan lives, and you stand a better chance of winning this war."


On Monday, the U.S.-led coalition handed operations over to NATO, which will command an 8,000-strong force of British, Canadian and Dutch troops.


Canadian officials confirmed that Canadians will continue to be engaged in combat in the region under NATO.


NATO's move into southern Afghanistan was originally planned as an expansion into other provinces of the relative security created in Kabul. But the escalation of Taliban efforts in the south means NATO forces will continue to push back, Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the Canadian commander of coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, told The Canadian Press.