Canada has transferred responsibility for the security of southern Kandahar province in Afghanistan to the U.S. army’s 82nd Airborne Division last evening after holding the Taliban at bay for more than four years. The move comes in wake of arrival of extra US troops and Canada’s decision to withdraw its troops by July next year. With the move, Canada’s area of responsibility has now formally shrunk to Panjwaii and Dand districts, to the southwest of Kandahar City. <br/><br/>NATO and Afghan government have long maintained that Kandahar City is the most crucial ground considered to be the birthplace of Taliban. US and Afghan forces have launched Task Force Fury with enforcing a ring of stability, which includes a number of heavily fortified and defended checkpoints that were set up around the city perimeter to check Taliban’s movement. Canada has lost 150 soldiers serving in Afghanistan out of its contingent of more than six thousand.