Parliamentary Committee Notes: Evacuation Planning
Relationships with Allies and partners, alongside credible intelligence, are critical to the success of any military operation.
When indications of a deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan became known in spring 2021, the Canadian Armed Forces ramped up cooperation with Allies and regional partners.
For example, the Canadian Armed Forces exchanged intelligence assessments with Allies and coordinated Canadian embassy evacuation plans with other embassies' security staff.
Additionally, throughout 2020 and 2021, Canadian Forces Intelligence Command provided ongoing intelligence briefs on the developing situation in Afghanistan.
These briefings helped inform Canadian Armed Forces and whole-of-government planning efforts that were underway to address the deteriorating situation.
On July 27, 2021, the Department of National Defence received a joint request for assistance from Global Affairs Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Then on August 4, following approval of the request for assistance, the Canadian Armed Forces began evacuation flights from Kabul.
Despite enormous challenges, the Canadian Armed Forces, working in lockstep with Allies and partners, helped conduct an historic airlift, facilitating the evacuation of 3,700 people from Afghanistan.
Key facts
Timeline
February 2020: Former US President, Donald Trump, concluded a peace deal with the Taliban, agreeing to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
March 2021: Global Affairs Canada submitted a Request for Assistance to National Defence, seeking help formalizing evacuation plans for the Canadian Embassy in Kabul.
14 April 2021: The Biden Administration announces that it will withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.
24 April 2021: The Canadian Armed Forces deployed a planning team to Kabul to assist Global Affairs Canada in planning related to the rapid evacuation of Canadian Embassy in Kabul.
30 June 2021: The Taliban gained control of more territory than at any point since 2001.
23 July 2021: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced Special Immigration Measures (SIMs) to offer a pathway to citizenship for those Afghans at-risk due to their association with the Government of Canada.
27 July 2021: The Canadian Armed Forces received a joint request for assistance from Global Affairs Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to support the evacuation of the Canadian Embassy – Kabul, Canadian citizens and permanent residents, as well as Afghan nationals eligible for resettlement under IRCC's new Special Immigration Measures (SIMS) program.
30 July 2021: The Canadian Armed Forces received approval to deploy to Afghanistan to support the evacuation from Kabul of the Canadian Embassy and those Afghans, and their family members, eligible under the Special Immigration Measures program.
4 August 2021: A combination of Canadian Armed Forces aircraft and flights chartered by the Government of Canada started transporting evacuees out of Afghanistan.
Details
Intelligence assessments are essential to ensuring that National Defence can continue to base decisions on the best possible advice available.
From the very beginning, National Defence worked closely with our Allies and partners in the region to gather and assess intelligence related to quickly evolving situation in Afghanistan.
During testimony before the Special Committee on Afghanistan (May 9, 2022), former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), General Wayne Eyre, made a number of observations related to the speed of the collapse of the Government of Afghanistan and intelligence from that time period.
The former CDS explained that from the announcement of the U.S. withdrawal, the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated and that "our assessment evolved with it."
He also stated that as of April 1, 2021, intelligence assessed that the Afghan government was facing a likely defeat ("looking at six months"), but as time progressed, the timeline for that defeat was reduced as well.
Further, General Eyre concluded that he thought that "everyone, including the Taliban, were surprised at how rapidly Kabul fell."
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