afghanistan war when did it start and end
War in Afghanistan (2001–present) The War in Afghanistan (or the U.S. War in Afghanistan; code named Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan (2001–2014) and Operation Freedom's Sentinel (2015–present))[50][51] followed the United States invasion of Afghanistan[52] of October 7, 2001. The U.S. was supported initially by the United Kingdom and Canada[53] and later by a coalition of over 40 countries, including all NATO members. The war's public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power.[54] The War in Afghanistan is the second longest war in United States history, behind the Vietnam War.[55][56][57][58][59]
Canada's role in the War in Afghanistan Canada's role in the Afghanistan War began in late 2001. Canada sent its first element of Canadian soldiers secretly in October 2001 from Joint Task Force 2,[1] and the first contingents of regular Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan in January–February 2002. Canada took on a larger role starting in 2006 after the Canadian troops were redeployed to Kandahar province. There were 2,500 Canadian Forces (CF) personnel in Afghanistan and 1,200 comprised the combat battle group.[2] At the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that an undisclosed number of Canadian soldiers would remain in the country to help train and mentor the Afghan National Army until 12 March 2014 (though Canadian troops ended their combat role there in 2011).