• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Visiting Australian Defence Minister Announces Plans to Aid Afghanistan

Posted on: Saturday, 24 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul, 24 September: Australia has promised to deploy another 200 soldiers to Afghanistan next year to set up a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the war-torn country, where a number of civil-military bodies are already active in different regions.

An announcement to this effect came at a news conference jointly addressed by visiting Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill and his Afghan counterpart Abdorrahim Wardag here on Saturday.

Hill said the PRT would be established in a province after consultations with the Afghan government and other teams of the kind engaged in the ongoing reconstruction effort. A final decision in this regard will be taken after talks.

Wardag told journalists Australia had agreed to support the training of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers. He added Australia was desirous of greater links with the Afghan government.

Endorsing Wardag's view, Hill observed: "Besides military cooperation, we want to continue helping Afghanistan in building its economic base, expanding its education opportunities, improving health care and reconstruction of the infrastructure."

It is pertinent to recall that Australia contributed 150 troops to the US-led invasion that toppled the Taleban in late 2001. By late 2002, however, it pulled out all its troops, leaving just one soldier tasked with clearing land mines.

The visiting minister, who arrived here on Friday to meet Australian troops stationed in Afghanistan, is believed to have held meetings with high-ranking Afghan officials. "We have quite a substantial aid programme now."

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

More News in this Category