The announcement came three days before NATO leaders meet in Lisbon to discuss the alliance's mission in Afghanistan and was quickly welcomed by US President Barack Obama.

Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay defended the decision as a continuation of efforts by Canada and other NATO members he said had already helped train and "mentor" about 50,000 Afghan troops.

"The post-2011 non-combat training mission will further contribute to the goal of preparing Afghans to assume responsibility for their own security," said MacKay, flanked by Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.

"The legacy of the Canadian forces in Afghanistan will endure in a professional Afghan national security forces capable of providing a more secure and stable environment for the Afghan people," he said.

Ottawa had faced immense pressure from Washington ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Portugal to extend its mission in Afghanistan. But there was also strong domestic opposition to the move.

Obama said Ottawa's decision "underscores the very important constructive role" of Canada in the country.

Canada currently has 2,800 combat troops in Afghanistan but they are mandated by parliament to return home in mid-2011 after nine years of battling insurgents as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

The military training mission, when it was announced without details last week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, drew fire from opposition parties.

While the main opposition Liberals backed the decision, both the leftist New Democrats and separatist Bloc Quebecois accused Harper of breaking his promise to Canadians to bring the troops home in 2011.

They also blasted Harper's refusal to seek parliamentary approval for the new mission.

"Unilaterally extending the military mission in Afghanistan is the wrong thing to do," New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton said. "This is a sad deterioration in the level of democratic accountability that Canadians have come to expect."

Harper, at the helm of a minority Conservative government since 2006, acknowledged that securing support from parliament was important "for the sake of legitimacy" when it comes to war-fighting.

"But when we're talking simply about technical or training missions, I think that is something the executive can do on its own," he added.

The Canadian military trainers will be deployed from 2011 to 2014, the government said.

The conflict has claimed the lives of 152 Canadian soldiers, as well as a journalist, aid workers and a senior diplomat since the start of the Canadian combat mission in 2002.

Most of the deaths occurred in southern Kandahar province -- the cradle of the Taliban insurgency.

When the military trainers arrive next year, they will be mostly centered around Kabul doing in-class and other instruction on "handling of firearms, physical training, the type of training that we do, frankly, at bases here in Canada," MacKay said.

"It will include such things as marksmanship, infantry, armour, artillery and logistics. We may do some training with respect to aircraft, depending on what equipment the Afghans have available ... to impart the skill set that the Afghan security forces need to do the job that we're doing for them," he said.

"There will be no mentoring" on the battlefield, he added.

The cost of the training mission, as well as development aid, regional diplomacy and humanitarian assistance is estimated to be 700 million dollars per year.

Forty-five Canadian policemen will also continue training Afghan police officers, according to a statement.

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