KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - After a frustratingly long three-year wait, the fledging Afghan National Army finally has a new weapon in its arsenal: the Canadian C7 rifle.
Some 42 boxes of surplus weapons arrived at the ANA base just up the road from Kandahar Airfield last week, Brig.-Gen. Gul Aqa said Wednesday in an interview with The Canadian Press. And training is already underway.
Aimed at replacing the Afghan army's old Soviet-era AK-47s in order to bring the force's fire power capabilities in line with that of NATO countries, the Canadian rifles are a welcome addition, Aqa said.
"They're very modern and new weapons and the C7 is a real necessity for the ANA," he said through a translator. He said the AK-47s often jam, leaving soldiers vulnerable to enemy fire.
"It's the difference between old and new."
It's a project that's been in the works for several years.
The Canadian government announced quietly late last month that it would be donating 2,500 surplus C7 rifles to the Afghan army. Canada is also contributing ammunition and training, all in the hopes of strengthening the army's efforts to secure the region in and around Kandahar where Canadian troops have been stationed for the last two years.
Building the capacity of the ANA, and more recently the Afghan police, is considered key to Canada's exit strategy from Afghanistan.
While built in Canada, the C7 rifle is based on the American M-16 design and as such, was subject to foreign military sales rules.
It's why the deal took so long to materialize, Canadian commander Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche said.
"The technology which served to build those C7s are from different countries and we have to go back to those countries to make sure we are authorized to share that technology with Afghanistan," he said.
"In this case we had to go back to the U.S. to determine exactly what we could share and so on so that's why it took a bit of time to do it."
The relatively small stature of Afghan soldiers was cited in August as another reason for the delay.
Lt.-Col. Wayne Eyre, the outgoing commander of the Canadian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team responsible for helping train the ANA, suggested their shorter height meant the butt stock of the rifles had to be modified.
While Afghan army officials have expressed much frustration at the wait for new firearms in the past, Aqa said he understands these things take time and is simply happy things have finally worked out.
"At last we have achieved our goal and they have obeyed our request and I'm very happy to receive the new and modern weapon for the ANA," he said.
Laroche suggested the 2,500 rifles is adequate for the brigade Canada supports - there are four battalions of 600 soldiers with one more being added in the coming months.
Aqa, on the other hand, said it's a good start considering there's some 12,000 ANA soldiers operating in Kandahar province.
"I am glad we are the first among all ANA in Afghanistan to have received all these weapons," he said.
"It is a matter of co-operation that they have done with us and I am optimistic that in the future they will provide us with more weapons."
A spokesman with Colt Canada Corp. which manufactures the C7 rifle said while the AK-47 is often touted as an easy-to-use weapon that will work just about anywhere including sand and mud, the more modern C7 has a number of advantages.
The C7 takes a smaller but faster and more powerful calibre bullet, is considered more accurate since there's less recoil, the magazines can carry more rounds and it has a longer range, he said.
