First combat and casualties: Canada in Afghanistan, 2001–2002

Canada’s initial contribution to the war had consisted of air and naval support. A small commitment of special forces operators was on the ground in December 2001. But by February 2002, larger deployments of combat soldiers began to arrive on the tarmac of Kandahar airfield.

A battle group led by the 3rd Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (3 PPCLI) was initially deployed to secure the perimeter of the airfield. Kandahar airfield was to become a vital transportation and operations hub for the international coalition.

Their initial deployment was for six months. However, their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Pat Stogran, was under no illusions that the mission would be over quickly. He says, “I told the troops right from the get-go: ‘Don’t consider this a six-month tour. We could be here a year or, you know, who knows. But just get used to the lifestyle.’ So, it was open-ended, and it was open-ended for the longest time.”

Canadian troops were also called upon to support combat operations against remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda elsewhere in Afghanistan.

These Canadian troops were operating as part of a larger American grouping called Task Force Rakkasan. The various national armies had to share and integrate their communications and command structures to work together effectively.

In March 2002, five Canadian snipers left Kandahar airfield to participate in Operation Anaconda. This operation pitted American and Afghan allies against enemy forces reportedly holed up in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, northeast of Kandahar.

Stogran recalls that, “Anaconda was meant to break the back of the bad guys, and they were well prepared and dug in for a big fight with the Americans.”

The Canadians provided key tactical support to U.S. forces during the operation. One of them, Corporal Rob Furlong, made a record-breaking shot, hitting a target from 2,430 metres away.  The snipers’ success was a promising example of the military forces working together effectively. The Americans later awarded the snipers the U.S. Bronze Star Medal for their contribution.

The close cooperation seen in Anaconda and Harpoon would soon be overshadowed by a tragic friendly fire incident. Late on April 17, 2002, Canadian troops were conducting nighttime training at a facility called Tarnak Farms near Kabul. Formerly an al-Qaeda training site, it was now used for the same purpose by the U.S. and its allies.

U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt, deployed as part of American air support to the Afghanistan war, was flying an F-16 over the training site when he saw shooting below. It was the Canadian troops training, but Schmidt decided his wingman was being fired on by the enemy. Despite being told to hold his fire, Schmidt rolled in and dropped a 500-pound bomb on the firing range.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight were wounded. American and Canadian medical personnel worked together in Kandahar’s rudimentary field hospital to save those they could after the attack. The Canadians killed were Sergeant Marc Léger, Corporal Ainsworth Dyer, Private Richard Green, and Private Nathan Smith.

Given that Tarnak Farms was a well-known and well-used training area, the incident came as a shock. Friendly fire is an ever-present risk in the chaos of combat, but Tarnak Farms was far from the front lines. As Warrant Officer William “Billy” Bolen, who worked closely with Sergeant Marc Léger, said at the time, “I had a concern about friendly fire, but not with training. Maybe on The Whale, but . . . not here.”

Despite the rapid collapse of the Taliban government and the scattering of al-Qaeda in October and November 2001, Osama bin Laden had escaped capture. In the last weeks of 2001, a concerted effort to hunt him down in the mountainous region of Tora Bora began. Canada participated in the ongoing operation in May 2002.

The area was rugged, remote, and full of potential hiding places including bunkers and caves. The operation began with airstrikes and artillery attacks. Then ground troops arrived, including U.S. special forces, CIA operatives, and Afghan militias. They failed to find bin Laden, who had slipped over the border into Pakistan. He would remain there in hiding for another decade.

The Battle of Tora Bora illustrated aspects of the conflict that were to persist throughout the war in Afghanistan: uncertain intelligence, challenging terrain, and an evasive, adaptable enemy.

In June 2002, 3 PPCLI redeployed back to Canada, having served six months under trying conditions in Afghanistan. The news media widely covered their enthusiastic and emotional homecoming to Edmonton.

But back in Afghanistan, the coalition faced growing uncertainty about what lay ahead, and when long-term stability might be in reach.

The coalition’s initial invasion had succeeded in displacing the Taliban. A new government was slowly coming into being. But Canada and its allies would soon face new challenges and dangers. The mission was just setting out on a long road of escalating political, social and military complexity.