Several local troops will be heading to Afghanistan Monday as part of Canada’s last deployment to the country.
The soldiers are part of Task Force 2-13, which is Canada’s final contribution to the International Assistance Force/NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan.
“They have different backgrounds, different trades. We have some infantry, we have engineers, we have medics and we have other support soldiers,” Canadian Forces spokesperson Fraser Logan explained.
The mission, Operation ATTENTION, delivers training and professional development support to the national security forces of Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army, The Afghan Air Force and the Afghan National Police.
It also marks a special milestone for Edmonton soldiers.
“Edmonton based troops were the first troops to be in Afghanistan,” Logan said.
“So it’s appropriate that we were the first in and we’ll be the first out.”
The plane leaves from the Edmonton International Airport around 8 a.m. and will pick up an additional 30 troops from Winnipeg before heading overseas.
Those deployed will stay between three and nine months, bringing the total number of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan to 700.
