'Canada can do more' for Afghanistan: O'Connor

Ottawa wants to help put more equipment in the hands of Afghanistan's army and police forces, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Thursday before meeting with the Afghan president.

"I've asked [the army] to develop a plan to increase Canada's contribution to the provincial reconstruction team," said O'Connor, who spoke before wrapping up a two-day visit with Canadian troops in Kandahar.

"The job in Afghanistan is not done. Canada can do more."

O'Connor, who left the main Canadian base in Kandahar for Kabul, didn't say whether that means the federal government would increase its financial assistance to Afghanistan.

Canada has already provided roughly 2,200 soldiers to the country's volatile southern region and pledged $1 billion for reconstruction over 10 years. About 200 soldiers, civilian and diplomatic experts make up the provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar City.

Since the mission started four years ago, 28 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan, many at the hands of Taliban fighters.

Canada expects more from Afghans

While in Kabul, O'Connor will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The defence minister made it clear he'll ask Karzai for something in return for Canada's efforts.

"We would like to see more ofthe Afghan national army, more effort on the [part of] the police, more construction efforts from the centralgovernment here in the south," he said.

O'Connor, a retired general, is also expected to meet with Pakistani officials during his visit to the region.

Pakistan is believed to be an operations centre for the Taliban, Afghanistan's former hardline rulers, and a source for Taliban fighters.

On Wednesday, O'Connor said he believes the security situation in Afghanistan will improve over the next year, saying the media focuses too much on violence and not enough on the improvements soldiers are making there.