Counter-insurgency operations

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has been a part of missions against insurgency and terrorism in other countries for more than fifteen years. Canada first sent CAF sea, land and air task forces to Afghanistan in 2001. The CAF has contributed to the global actions against terrorism since then. Prior to that, it had also been part of counter-insurgency operations in other countries.

The CAF is currently part of the global coalition against Daesh. The CAF mission is called Operation IMPACT. Operating in Iraq and Syria, the CAF contributes in a number of ways:

• Conducts air operations;
• Provides training to Iraqi security forces;
• Helps regional forces build military capacity;
• Operates an intelligence collection and processing center;
• Provides medical services to coalition forces; and
• Supports the coalition with highly-skilled CAF members.

Other CAF counter-insurgent and anti-terrorism operations are:

• Operation ARTEMIS in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean
• Operation FOUNDATION in the Middle East, North Africa and Southwest Asia.

The Canadian Joint Operations Command tasks and directs most CAF operations.

Read about past operations against terrorism and insurgency.