MONTREAL - A group of soldiers flew to Afghanistan from Quebec City on Sunday to be mentors and instructors to the Afghan National Security Forces, according to a media release from the Department of National Defence.

The soldiers will be part of about 900 Canadian Forces personnel who are participating in Operation Attention.

Attention is the name of Canada's part of NATO's "Training Mission-Afghanistan," which according to the Canadian government, "delivers training and professional development support to the security forces of Afghanistan."

"As our troops fly out, I am proud of our men and women in uniform and their commitment to Canada's engagement in Afghanistan," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said. "Canadian troops take real pride in the fact that they are promoting security through training and mentoring efforts."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in May that Canada's mission in Afghanistan will end March 31, 2014.

Since 2002, 158 members of the Canadian Forces have died in the Afghanistan war and 635 have been wounded in action.