Canada sees troops staying longer in Afghanistan

OTTAWA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The Canadian government said on Tuesday it wanted its military contingent in Afghanistan to stay until 2011, two years longer than planned, but was coy about how many troops would remain and exactly what they would be doing.

Canada's 2,500 soldiers, based in the violent southern region of Kandahar, are due out in February 2009. The minority Conservative government has promised a Parliamentary vote on any extension.

Polls show Canadians are deeply split about the mission and opposition parties variously insist the troops come home now or no later than the scheduled pullout.

"The government does not believe that Canada should simply abandon the people of Afghanistan after 2009," the government said in a policy speech, saying it wanted troops to focus on training Afghan police and the national army.

"This will not be completed by February 2009 but our government believes this objective should be achievable by 2011," it added.

Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named a bipartisan advisory panel to review the future of the mission. So far 71 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.