Operation Mountain Thrust was launched in the beginning of the summer in 2006. Canadians of the 2 PPCLI Battle Group were one of the leading combatants and the first fighting when the Battle of Panjwaii took place. Complex mud-walled compounds made the rural Panjwaye District take on an almost urban style of fighting in some places. Daily firefights, artillery bombardments, and allied airstrikes turned the tides of the battle in favour of the Canadians. After Operation Mountain Thrust came to an end, Taliban fighters flooded back into the Panjwaye District in numbers that had not been seen yet in a single area in the "post Anaconda" war.
 | Taking positions during sweeps in Panjawi, Afghanistan. | The Canadian Forces came under NATO command at the end of July, and the 1 RCR (Royal Canadian Regiment) Battle Group replaced the PPCLI. Canadians launched Operation Medusa in September in an attempt to clear the areas of Taliban fighters from Panjwaii once and for all. The fighting of Operation Medusa led the way to the second, and most fierce Battle of Panjwaii in which daily gun-battles, ambushes, and mortar and rocket attacks were targeting the Canadian troops. The Taliban had massed with an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 fighters. The Taliban were reluctant to give up the area, and after being surrounded by the Canadian Forces, they dug in and fought a more conventional style battle. After weeks of fighting, the Taliban had been cleared from the Panjwaye area and Canadian reconstruction efforts in the area began. | A member of the Royal Canadian 22nd Regiment, speaks with two young Afghans during a foot patrol in the streets of Kabul. | On 15 September 2006, the Canadian government committed a squadron of Leopard tanks from Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), and an additional 200 to 500 troops to Afghanistan. Canada was the first nation to deploy armour to Afghanistan.
On 15 December 2006, the Canadians launched Operation Falcon Summit into Zhari District, to the North of Panjwaye. The operation was the Canadian involvement in the NATO-led Operation Mountain Fury. During Operation Falcon Summit, the Canadians gained control of several key villages and towns that were former Taliban havens, such as Howz-E Madad. During the first week of the operation, massive Canadian artillery and tank barrages were carried out in a successful attempt to clear pockets of Taliban resistance. The operation concluded with plans to build a new road linking Panjwaye with Kandahar's Highway 1 that runs east-west through Zhari.
 | Walking patrol near Kandahar, Afghanistan. | Royal 22e Régiment Battle Group, with supporting troops from 5 GBMC (Groupe-brigade mécanisé du Canada/Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group) plus a composite tank squadron from Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) conducted operations on the ground. This rotation reflected a change in Canadian tactics, with emphasis on systematically clearing, holding buildings in the districts of Panjwaye and Zhari, while also protecting Arghandab District and the Afghan/Pakistan border in the area of Spin Boldak. The focus was on intimately working with the Afghan army, police and civil administration so as to hold cleared areas rather than subsequently lose them to returning Taliban, as had previously occurred
throughout the South and East.  | A wounded Canadian soldier crawls for cover after his position was ambushed by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s Zhari district. | On 29 January 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will extend its military mission in Afghanistan to 2011, only if another NATO country puts more than 1,000 soldiers in the dangerous southern province of Kandahar. This was due to the European allies' refusal to deploy to Afghanistan's dangerous south and east. This had opened a rift with Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark and others which, along with the United States, had borne the brunt of Taliban violence.
 | Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan got Tim Hortons for Canada Day. | Canada has assisted in the collection, storage and decom-missioning of 10,000 heavy weapons left in Afghanistan including artillery, tanks and rocket launchers, used in decades of conflict in the country. Canada has helped clear about one third of the estimated 10 to 15 million mines in Afghanistan. Canada has loaned money to over 140,000 people in Afghanistan. Canada has also helped train the Afghan police and army.
| Giving water to an Afghan child. | As of April 4, 2008, the Canadian forces have suffered 83 reported fatalities involving its soldiers in Afghanistan and one senior Foreign Affairs officer. Canada has suffered the third highest number of combat casualties of any nation in the Allied Force.
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