Defence Minister Anita Anand says it is heartbreaking for members of Canada’s armed forces who served in Afghanistan to see the Taliban back in power.
Anand told a special Parliamentary committee on Afghanistan Monday that the armed forces helped give a generation of Afghans access to education and health care, as well as human rights.
She says Canada’s military mobilized swiftly last year to evacuate 3,700 Afghans and Canadians in Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control.
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Defence chief, Gen. Wayne Eyre, says although some of Canada’s evacuation flights were not full, others were packed beyond official capacity to get as many people out as possible.
One captain of a Canadian flight packed his cargo aircraft, designed to carry abound 200, with 535 people.
Anand says Canada has no plans to recognize the government of the Taliban, which is listed as a prescribed terrorist group.
Trudeau meets re-settled Afghan families in Hamilton, Ont.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
