OTTAWA—Canada has quietly contributed $33 million to help establish a new centre in Kabul to treat Afghan vets wounded in that nation’s many years of conflict, the Star has learned.

When built, the rehabilitation centre will be the largest and most modern facility of its kind in an impoverished country where injured vets have faced an uphill battle for treatment.

“It would dramatically improve the quality of care for ill and injured vets,” said one former soldier who served in Canada’s Afghanistan mission.

He said the needs are great in the country, the result of “40 years of war and the remnants of war.

“The numbers would be astonishing,” said the former soldier, who spoke on background because a formal announcement has not yet been made.

It’s also hoped that the centre will be a “catalyst” for more effective treatment of ill and injured Afghan personnel, whose numbers continue to grow because of the ongoing counter insurgency campaign against the Taliban, he said.

A NATO official referred questions about the project to the Canadian government.

The Foreign Affairs department confirmed that Ottawa recently contributed $33 million, through NATO’s trust fund for the Afghan National Army, for the construction of the Kabul Military National Hospital’s Rehabilitation Centre.

As well, the government has provided another $2.5 million to repair the hospital, which was severely damaged in a March terror attack. In that attack, gunmen wearing white lab coats stormed the hospital, killing more than 40 people and wounding dozens.

The department did not make anyone available to speak about the funding.

News of the contribution comes just days before Toronto plays host to the Invictus Games, sports competitions for military personnel and veterans wounded while on duty. The games, which begin this weekend, will bring together more than 550 athletes from 17 nations.

Canada — which had a military mission in Afghanistan for more than a decade — would be the largest donor to the Kabul facility, paying half the cost of the project.

It is meant to accommodate 100 military and police personnel as well as civilians injured as a result of the country’s conflicts. An attached facility would house 20 women medical students in training. The goal would be to have the centre built by 2019.

Canada has its own legacy from Afghanistan — 158 soldiers died during the lengthy mission. Another 635 were wounded in action and a further 1,436 suffered non-battle injuries.

While Ottawa has at times faced criticism for the care and benefits provided to personnel who have suffered mental and physical wounds, it far exceeds the treatment and support available to wounded Afghan soldiers who face challenges after suffering injuries, the former soldier said.

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“It’s a pretty grim prospect if you lose an arm or leg,” he said.

“The situation for them is as you would expect in a broken, impoverished country at war in one form or another for 40 years,” he said.

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