Ottawa - Canada is to contribute six ships, the same number of aircraft and a special commando unit to the US-led military coalition that has attacked inside Afghanistan.
Defence Minister Mr Art Eggleton said Canada would be committing more than 2,000 military personnel for an initial period of six months. The first deployments will start over the next few days. Canadian forces would become an integral part of the coalition along with such partners as Britain, Germany and France.
"(The ships) will do the traditional naval tasks of supporting direct action in the region, providing force protection, surveillance and... (to) escort the carrier battle groups," Chief of Defence Staff Gen Ray Henault told the news conference.
The air contingent will consist of three C-130 Hercules cargo planes, an Airbus cargo plane and two Aurora maritime patrol long-range aircraft.