Bosnia JTF2 forces were inserted into
Bosnia, operating in two- to four-man teams hunting for Serbian snipers who were targeting
UN forces at the
sniper alley. JTF2 was also in Haiti at the time that Haitian president
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was
ousted from power in 2004. They protected the Canadian embassy and secured the airport.
War on terror In the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks and the American declaration of a
war on terror, approximately 40 JTF2 soldiers were sent to southern
Afghanistan in early December 2001 to be part of
Task Force K-Bar, under the command of
Captain Robert Harward. The Canadian public was not informed of the deployment. However, in Sean M. Maloney's book
Enduring the Freedom, it was reported that JTF2 was secretly deployed without Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien's permission in early October 2001. Under Task Force K-Bar, JTF2 worked extensively with the
U.S. 3rd Special Forces Group; one of their first missions in Afghanistan was what Harward described as "the first Coalition
direct action mission since the
Second World War." The joint operation with a team of
Green Berets targeting a
Taliban command node almost ended in disaster when a Chinook carrying JTF2 operators was forced to make a hard landing near the target site. JTF2 was based at the time in Kandahar Air Field. Several months later,
The Globe and Mail published an image on its front page showing operators in distinctive forest-green Canadian Forces combat uniforms delivering captured prisoners to the Americans. This prompted an outcry in Parliament as MPs were never informed these operations were underway. Vice Admiral
Greg Maddison was called before the
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to address claims that Minister of Defence
Art Eggleton had purposely misled the public and the government, even failing to inform the Prime Minister that JTF2 had been operating in Afghanistan. In 2004, an estimated 40 members of JTF2 serving with Task Force K-Bar were awarded the
Presidential Unit Citation by the U.S. government for service in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon and the
British Foreign Office both commented on the instrumental role JTF2 played in rescuing the
British and Canadian Christian Peacemaker Team that were being held hostage in
Iraq. Involvement of JTF2 was not confirmed by Canadian officials. There has been much speculation in the Canadian media on possible JTF2 operational deployments. As of 2001, the unit had 297 members, but by the end of the year, with the
war on terror becoming a reality, the federal government announced their intentions to increase it to 600 members within four years. As of 2014, the unit was believed to be in Iraq as training personnel, under the Canadian
Operation Impact which is part of
Operation Inherent Resolve. The Canadian government has not denied or confirmed JTF2's involvement. In June 2017, it was reported that a JTF2 sniper in Iraq had shot and killed an
ISIL fighter from a distance of , setting a world record for the
longest confirmed kill. The shot was taken from a high-rise building using a standard Canadian military issued
McMillan Tac-50 rifle, a .50 caliber (12.7×99mm)
anti-materiel rifle commonly used by snipers in an anti-personnel role. The Canadian Forces designation is the C15 Long-Range Sniper Weapon (LRSW).
Other actions wearing the distinctive
tan beret of the unit. Vice-Admiral
Dean McFadden also confirmed that JTF2 would take a role in securing the
2010 Winter Olympics and
2010 Winter Paralympics. JTF2 has also acted as bodyguards to Canadians travelling abroad, notably accompanying Lieutenant-General
Maurice Baril and
Raymond Chrétien to
Zaire in November 1996. They similarly accompanied war crimes prosecutor
Louise Arbour into
Kosovo. The unit was believed to be operating with the Special Air Service and
Special Boat Service in
Operation Mobile, the Canadian operation in the
2011 Libyan civil war. In August 2021, JTF2 and CSOR operators were deployed to Afghanistan to evacuate staff from the Canadian Embassy in Kabul. In May 2022, Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to show solidarity and to witness the war for himself, alongside members of the cabinet. As part of the security detail, they were accompanied by members of JTF2. In October 2023, JTF2 and other CANSOFCOM elements were deployed to Israel to help with security at the Canadian embassy. In March 2024, JTF2 operators were deployed to Haiti to protect the Canadian Embassy and staff. ==Notable members ==