The Chief of Staff for Canadian Forces operations confirmed that Canadian soldiers have engaged Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, in an unprecedented look at the secretive commando unit.

At a briefing in Ottawa on Tuesday, Brig.-Gen. Mike Ward told reporters that members of Joint Task Force 2 have the authority to exercise deadly force on their missions throughout the war-torn country.

As such, Ward said enemy fighters have been both captured and killed in the course of Canadian forces doing their job.

"Yes, we've detained people," he explained, without specifying exact numbers. "Our aim in all of these operations is to capture where possible in order to use the intelligence value that any of these detainees may have for us."

Canadian troops hold detainees only long enough to process them and obtain any valuable intelligence before turning them over to the appropriate authorities, said Ward, who commanded Canadian troop as a colonel in Kosovo six years ago.

He explained that detainees are handed over to allies once transfer conditions are accepted and the International Committee of the Red Cross is informed.

The United States is the detainee authority in the coalition, he said, adding that Washington has agreed to Canada's conditions, including requirements of humane treatment and third-party monitoring.

Ward added that, in some circumstances, capture proved impossible.

"We have to expect that in those circumstances casualties do occur," he said. "We have not suffered any casualties at this point, but casualties occurred on the other side."

The military only recently acknowledged that JTF2 commandos are working with their American and Commonwealth counterparts in Afghanistan. A total of approximately 20,000 U.S.-led coalition troops are currently hunting for Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents throughout Afghanistan.

While Canadian operations are usually shrouded in secrecy, observers are saying Tuesday's rare admission is part of a new transparency on the part of the military.

"It's part of a new effort by the military and the government to be a little more open of what our forces are doing abroad," CTV's Roger Smith reported from Ottawa.

"I think the government wants to make it clear to people that these are dangerous missions partly so that Canadians can be prepared if Canadians themselves are killed."

One defence analyst says this candour is long overdue.

"The difference, and this is a significant difference, is the willingness of the political elite to talk about what they're using the military for and share that with the Canadian public," said Rob Huebert, a political scientist in Calgary.