Visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Peter Mackay reaffirmed on Wednesday his government's firm support to help rebuild the post-Taliban Afghanistan.

"We continue to work closely with Afghanistan, with our international partners in building stable and prosperous country," Mackay told a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.

Mackay, who paid a surprise visit to Canadian troops base in Taliban's former stronghold Kandahar on Tuesday, also asserted that Canada would continue to help Afghanistan build its government institutions and professional army.

With over 2,300 soldiers in the post-Taliban nation, Canada is among the lead nations supporting the U.S.-led coalition troops fighting remnants of the former fundamentalist regime in the region.

Canada, which has lost 15 of its nationals including one diplomat since deploying its troops in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, has also been assisting the Afghanistan government to build its law enforcing apparatus as some of Canadian instructors are training Afghan national army and police.

Canada has also contributed some 700 million U.S. dollars in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan over the past four years.

For his part, Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta thanked Canada for its contribution to assisting the war-torn nation towards prosperity.

Source: Xinhua