KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Canadian army's last major offensive sweep through Kandahar's restive Panjwaii district ended quietly, almost imperceptibly, and not with the sort of thunder one might have expected on such an occasion.

The two week operation, led by the Afghans and eagerly showcased by Canadians, pushed through roughly 18 objectives and dozens of wasted hamlets.

It was a far cry from the fierce gun battles and rolling artillery barrages of early in the war, when the Canadians were doing the majority of the fighting -- and dying.

Even the code name was bland and understated: Omid Atal 09, Pashtu for "Hope and Hero."

What was quietly significant was the fact that the operation, meant to disrupt the Taliban's spring and summer attacks, was conceived, planned and executed entirely by the Afghan National Army's 205 "Hero" Corps.

There were firefights and even the occasional rocket-propelled grenade, but they lasted only a short time before the Taliban went to ground.

Despite the apparent success, the country's battle group commander warned Canada's war would not be at an end until all of his troops were safely out of harm's way.

The Canadians are in the process of handing over the battlefield to U.S. troops, who began arriving in the region last month.

The operation was a milestone in the development of the Afghan army, said Lt.-Col. Michel-Henri St-Louis, who leads the 1st Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment battle group.

But the reality and dangers on the ground for Canadian soldiers living in isolated combat outposts will not change, St-Louis said.

"The soldiers are going back (Tuesday) morning or (Tuesday) night, going patrolling in villages (and) exposing themselves to IEDs or contacts by small-arms fire," he said.

"What will be more significant, I would say, will be when we actually give the battle space over in July to the American unit that replaces us, when the soldiers no longer need to be a presence in those villages."

Back in 2008, Parliament established next month as the deadline for Canada to end its combat mission in the volatile province.

St-Louis said the war has evolved to the point where the fight is more at the level of individual platoons dealing with nests of insurgents.

The sweep involved more than 3,000 Canadian, Afghan and American soldiers in the scorched farmland west of the provincial capital.

The Canadian battle group has been partnered with the 205 Corps, one of the oldest and most experienced units in the new Afghan army, for the latter half of the war.

Almost half of its officers were trained by the Russians during the occupation of the 1980s and converting them to the western-style mindset of fighting has been, at times, daunting.

Training an effective army was one of the Conservative government's key priorities in its 2011 exit strategy from Kandahar.

"The objectives (of the operation) were defined by the Afghan National Army, the plan was developed by them and the execution was theirs to lead," St-Louis said.

There were no battle-related casualties, although a few Afghan soldiers were injured in a vehicle accident.

Some weapons caches were uncovered, but the finds were insignificant compared with the massive haul of munitions the Quebec-based Van Doos took down during the winter months.

How much those earlier raids contributed to the Taliban's apparent unwillingness to engage coalition and Afghan troops this time around remained unclear.

The weather, particularly late winter rains, did have an impact, military planners said. It pushed back the annual poppy harvest by a couple of weeks and delayed insurgent efforts to recruit in the region's isolated, dirt-poor villages.

The operation involved four U.S. combat infantry units and gave the incoming Americans a chance to get to know the ground they'll be holding for the next year.

Capt. Simon Ouellet, the Canadian officer in charge of Alpha Company's "Lucky" 13 platoon, said he was pleased to have the Americans take part.

"I'm happy to see them because it marks the end of the tour," said the 28-year-old Ouellet, who hails from the Quebec City area.

With someone taking over their positions, "it shows we did not do this for nothing."

"But I feel sad for them, because compared to all of the people that we (have) at the moment, I don't know if at the height of the fighting season they're going to be able to hold it as much as we do."

Both Canadian and American commanders say the ground in Panjwaii is saturated with coalition soldiers as the changeover proceeds.