MONTREAL (AFP) — Hundreds of people took to the streets across Canada on Saturday to protest its troop deployment to Afghanistan, media reports and organisers said, two days after parliament voted to extend the mission.
The Canadian Peace Alliance said demonstrations were planned in eight towns as part of a global day of action organized ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20.
About 1,000 people marched through Toronto, protesting against the extension of the 2,500-strong Afghan mission and calling for Canadian troops to pull out, according to local television.
In Ottawa, protesters gathered near the US embassy, accusing the United States of putting its strategic interests above the needs of ordinary people, according to the Canadian Peace Alliance.
In Montreal, about 50 people demonstrated against both Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and the Iraq war, an AFP journalist said.
Protests were also reported in the eastern town of Halifax, while further action was planned in towns in western Canada, media reports said.
Parliament voted Thursday to extend Canada's military deployment in volatile southern Afghanistan until 2011, provided NATO sends reinforcements. Otherwise, Canada will withdraw next year when its current mandate ends.
Christine Jones, co-chairwoman of the Canadian Peace Alliance, said the vote was misguided, arguing: "Afghanistan is worse off because of the military occupation and Canadians are more opposed to the war than ever before."
Jack Laydon, leader of the opposition NPD party which opposed extending the Afghan mission, said Friday that Canada must withdraw from the combat mission and instead lead peaceful efforts to bring security and stability to Afghanistan.
Eighty Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since Ottawa began its deployment there as part of a NATO-led mission in 2002.
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