JTF-2 unit won't report casualties

Sheldon Alberts

OTTAWA - The Canadian Forces have thrown a blanket of secrecy over the operations of the covert Joint Task Force Two commando unit in Afghanistan, including not telling the public whether any elite soldiers are killed.

Military officials confirmed they would also not reveal details of missions in which JTF-2 troops inflicted casualties on al-Qaeda or Taliban soldiers.

"If someone from JTF-2 is killed in action, that is something that the public would not be made aware of," said Lieutenant Kelly Kilrea, a Forces spokeswoman. "We do not discuss their operations. Period. That is a blanket. It covers everything.

"That policy is based on the Official Secrets Act, which prohibits the discussion of this unit.

"It is important to have that distinction, because it is not that we are keeping secrets in general. It's just this particular unit has a classified mandate on everything about it. It is a special force that doesn't have the same rules as everyone else in the Forces."

News of the policy has outraged an Opposition MP and comes at a time when the ChrŽtien government is fighting to quell a controversy over the belated disclosure last week that JTF-2 troops had been involved Jan. 21 in the capture of suspected al-Qaeda fighters.

About 40 members of the JTF-2, a top-secret commando unit based in Dwyer Hill, Ont., have been deployed on a covert mission in Afghanistan with U.S. Special Forces since early December.

Leon Benoit, the Official Opposition defence critic, blasted the policy and said Canadians have every right to know whether any of the country's soldiers are among the casualties in Afghanistan, or whether any deserve decoration for bravery.