Canadian Mission In Afghanistan Changes

Kandahar, Afghanistan (eCanadaNow) - - The New Canadian leader of soldiers in Afghanistan arrived on Wednesday and stated that the Canadian mission would be a bit different in the months to come, but that Canada would not be going strictly on the defensive.

Brigadier General Dennis Thompson arrived in Kandahar and made a brief statement on his arrival.

“There is still an ongoing mission and part of that is a military aspect, but much of the effort will be shifting to reconstruction and development,” said General Thompson.

He talked about an overall general change of the emphasis in Afghanistan for the Canadian Troops that he leads but that he was not prepared to go into specifics because the Canadian effort is part of a group allied coalition effort.

General Thompson arrived to take command of Canadian Forces for a nine-month tour of duty. He will start with helping to lay groundwork for civilian control eventually at the reconstruction provincial base that Canada currently administers inside Kandahar City.

Brigadier General Thompson will take over very soon from current Canadian military commander Brigadier General Guy Laroche, who has led Canadian Forces inside Afghanistan for the last 10 months.