Canada heads for Afghan exit after 9 years at war

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — After nine years, 157 troop deaths and more than $11 billion spent, Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan finally comes to an end this week.With popular support for the war sapped at home, some of the nearly 3,000 Canadian troops, based mainly in the dangerous battleground of Kandahar, have already started returning from Afghanistan, and the rest will follow soon.The official end of Canada's hard-fought mission, which began in early 2002 a few months after the US-led invasion of the country, comes Thursday, and as other countries also announce partial troop withdrawals from the Afghan theatre as Western voters tire of nearly a decade of war.Last month US President Barack Obama announced that he would withdraw 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, while France, Belgium and Britain have also said they will soon bring some troops home.All foreign combat forces are due to hand security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.While many Canadian troops say they feel elated to be going home to their families, commanders insist they will stay focused on the job right up until the end."It's not finished until it's finished. The image that we are using is a relay race. When you pass the baton on a relay race, you're not slowing down," deputy taskforce commander Colonel Richard Giguere said."That's what the Canadians are doing right now."Canada will hand its battleground over to US control, and the military insists it has made worthwhile progress during its time in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban and one of the fiercest fighting hotspots of the war.Giguere cited major steps forward on both security and governance in the districts of Panjwayi and Dand where the Canadians have been in charge."There?s a lot of pride in what the Canadians achieved," he said. "We're there to provide the security space that will permit the district governors to go ahead with their governance and development business."Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper first pledged in 2008 that troops woul

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