KANDAHAR - The military says a Canadian road project in southern Afghanistan is responsible for only a fraction of damage claims against foreign troops.
The Canadian Forces says it has paid about $50,000 to Afghans whose property has been damaged by a thoroughfare being carved through rural Kandahar.
Thirty-seven people have filed damage claims over the road.
So far, five kilometres of road out of a total of 18 have been completed.
The road accounts for more than a quarter of all claims made against the Canadian Forces since a military offensive began in early November.
The military says it has paid nearly $174,000 to 88 claimants for various things, mostly property damage, since Nov. 2, 2010.
This week, a delegation of Afghan government officials claimed a recent military effort in Kandahar has come at an astronomical cost: upwards of $100 million in damaged fruit crops, livestock and property.
But the commander of all NATO forces in southern Afghanistan disputes that figure.
Maj.-Gen. James Terry says he expects damage caused by operations in the districts of Zhari, Panjwaii and Arghandab will come in at no more than $4 million.
Terry, who is in charge of the NATO contingent known as Regional Command South, says 859 damage claims have been filed since early November.
Of those, 432 have been resolved and the rest are being processed.
