The federal Chief of Defence Staff has offered an apology to veterans of Afghanistan.

General Jonathan Vance says the “best of intentions have led to unintended harm” following the opening last week of the Afghanistan Memorial Hall in the new National Defence Headquarters.

He says he is truly sorry for the insensitivity and pain, anger and frustration that came through a lack of communication and failing to include veterans of Afghanistan and their families in the opening.

He says those veterans, their families and all Canadians deserve an explanation and changed approach.

He says the Kandahar Airfield Cenotaph needed a permanent home and they considered several options but ultimately decided to have it placed within the Headquarters in Ottawa. They wanted to keep the monument accessible but also safe from the elements and vandalism.

They decided to install it within the secured zone of their headquarters in light of plans to create a publicly accessible National Monument for those who served in Afghanistan. He says in trying to get the hall opened quickly so people, especially families of the fallen, could arrange to visit, they alienated and angered those same families.

Read the full statement below: