Intelnote - Canada's military has newly set up a special intelligence unit to do spy work on overseas missions, according to a local media report Monday. The military plans to spend about 27 million Canadian dollars (27 million U.S. dollars) over the next three years to purchase equipment for the new unit, which is actively recruiting soldiers, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said citing military documents it obtained.

The documents show that members analyze information gathered by other soldiers in the field, such as the information soldiers might pick up while interviewing motorists and searching cars at roadside checkpoints. The focus is to gather intelligence about the operational side of a mission, such as hunting for Taliban bomb makers in Afghanistan. Bigger intelligence questions, such as the global manhunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, will not be handled by the unit.

The intelligence unit can also be tasked with recruiting and overseeing spy networks in foreign countries that are made up of local intelligence agents, according to the documents.

It's not clear what countries the unit is currently operating in or how much money in total is being spent to fund the unit's activities, said CBC. Opposition the New Democratic Party has called for more information be revealed to the public.