Last week, Ottawa announced it would deploy military trainers -- up to 1,000, according to opposition parties -- until 2014 to help Afghan security forces take over security in the war-torn nation.

Canada's main opposition Liberals are backing the new training mission.

But the leftist New Democrats and separatist Bloc Quebecois accused Harper of breaking a promise to bring Canada's 2,800 troops home this summer after nine years spent routing insurgents. They also noted Harper vowed to seek parliamentary approval for any mission extension.

"Unilaterally extending the military mission in Afghanistan is the wrong thing to do," New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton told reporters in comments later echoed by Bloc Quebecois lawmakers.

"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 last week that securing support from parliament was important "for the sake of legitimacy" when it comes to warfighting.

"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.

In parliament, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff pressed the government to release details on the number of military trainers to be deployed, where they would operate and whether they would remain "behind the wire."

"We are five days away from the Lisbon summit and the government is unable to stand in the House and tell us exactly what the post-2011 combat mission looks like," he said.

NATO leaders plan to discuss Afghanistan and map pout the future of the transatlantic alliance during a meeting in Lisbon on Friday and Saturday.

"There is no credible politician in the Western world who believes that you can be serious about the future of Afghanistan and not be concerned about its security," Liberal MP Bob Rae said, insisting that NATO training for Afghan troops was the only solution.

But Layton noted that any such training meant soldiers would be exposed to danger and likely combat.

"So it's time for our troops to come home," he added.

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.

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