Operation Athena

Operation Athena is the Canadian Forces contribution to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.The operation was divided in two phases: the first one took place from July 2003 to July 2005 in the Kabul region and the second one from August 2005 to December 2011 in the Kandahar area. The operation's main objective was to improve Afghanistan's security and governance. Operation Athena in Kandahar constituted the longest combat mission in the history of Canadian Forces. With over 40 000 Canadian military units that, at some point, entered the country - often several times - this operation constitutes the largest military deployment of the Canadian Forces since World War II.

Following the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in New York, the United States started a military campaign against the Taliban regime and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Canada officially joined this campaign on October 9, 2001.

Operation Athena followed Operation Apollo, codename for the initial deployment of Canadian Force troops in Afghanistan from October 2001 to October 2003. As a matter of fact, Operation Athena was an integral part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan created by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 on December 13, 2001 · . Thereafter, other United Nations Security Council Resolutions have extended the ISAF's mandate.

The military operation in Afghanistan was part of a government-wide effort; indeed, Canada is one of the main international donors in Afghanistan and several other ministries were involved along with the Canadian Department of National Defence.

...
Wikipedia