New Zealand and Canada 's heaviest joint military involvement in the Middle East in recent decades has been in Afghanistan following the United States-led invasion of that country after the September 11 attacks . Fifty Special Air Service of New Zealand ( NZ SAS ) units were dispatched and in March 2002 they took part in Operation Anaconda alongside Canadian forces against about 500 to 1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zorma , Afghanistan . New Zealand has also supplied two transport aircraft and a 122-strong tri-service Provincial Reconstruction Team which has been located in Bamyan Province since 2003 . Both New Zealand ( NZ SAS ) and Canadian ( Joint Task Force 2 ) special forces have won the American Presidential Unit Citation for operations in Afghanistan
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Canada–New Zealand relations