Canada's chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, arrived at the Kandahar airfield for a surprise visit with Canadian troops on Monday.
This is Hillier's first visit to Afghanistan since Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment was deployed in July. He arrived in a Hercules aircraft accompanied by Canadian soldiers returning from leave.
Canada's top soldier was met on the tarmac by Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche.
CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Paul Workman said Hiller's visit is likely a routine trip where he will gather information about the mission and spend time with soldiers in the field.
"It's mid-period of this rotation of Van Doos and that's probably why he's here," Workman said.
It's unknown how long he will stay in the country. Hillier, often described as an "accessible general," is expected to address the media later in the week.
Workman said it's standard practice for senior commanding officers not to reveal their travel plans ahead of departure for "operational security reasons."
Hiller's visit marks the second round of senior commanding officers to visit Afghanistan in less than a week. Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, Canada's top army general, and Maj.-Gen. Stuart Beare, commander of the Land Force Doctrine and Training System, arrived in the country last week to visit every forward-operating base in the province.
Hiller's visit comes less than a week after the Conservative government proposed extending the Canadian mission in Afghanistan until 2011 instead of 2009.
Workman said Hillier is unlikely to address the latest political developments.
The military is now looking seriously at improving, developing and expanding its training role with the Afghan National Army and Afghan police, Workman said.
Lt.-Col. Alain Gauthier told Workman recently that Canada may have to consider keeping troops in that country for many more years or even decades.
Gauthier said Canada's strategy is to help build the country's police and security forces so that Afghanis will be able to trust them, but he noted that the desired goal of handing over security responsibilities is far away.
"Being with them for a month on checkpoints is not enough. We need to be with them several months to really help them to understand what the job is all about and to build confidence among the local people towards their police, which now is largely non-existent," Gauthier said.
