ZHARI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN - Canadian troops have employed their own helicopters to strike at an insurgent command centre and supply base deep in the heart ofTaliban territory.
Saturday's airborne assault in the restive Zhari district was the first of its kind using the newly deployed Canadian choppers.
More than 200 Canadian and American soldiers were part of the nearly 11-hour operation, sweeping mud-walled compounds and grape huts for insurgent commanders, weapons caches and bomb factories.
The troops withdrew by helicopter after uncovering a large amount of explosive-making material, a few weapons and capturing two suspected Taliban fighters.
The raid, in which there were no casualties, marked the start of a new chapter in the way Canada fights this three-year-old desert war in Kandahar province.
Canadian troops have conducted helicopter assaults before, but until now they've always been ferried into combat by either U.S., British or Dutch helicopters.
