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Australia to double troops in Afghanistan

Afghan boys play soccer in front of the area where enormous Buddha statues once stood in Bamiyan Province on Monday. The ancient Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2000. PHOTO: AP

Australia yesterday announced it would nearly double its military force in Afghanistan to 1,000 troops, warning that the war against a resurgent Taliban would not be won without extra effort.

A special task force spearheaded by 300 elite soldiers would be deployed shortly to help counter an expected summer offensive by the Islamic hardliners, Prime Minister John Howard told a news conference.

"Afghanistan faces a crucial phase as international and Afghan national security forces work to consolidate the gains made since the overthrow of the Taliban regime," he said.

Howard warned that the possibility of Afghanistan again becoming a "bolthole for terrorists" was real.

"If terrorism acquires a safe haven again in Afghanistan that will be of direct consequence to this country and to other countries in the region," he said. "We are not losing the war but we will not win it without renewed and increased effort and that is why we are playing our part."

Howard told Australians to be prepared for casualties, saying intelligence reports pointed to an increasing threat posed by the insurgency.

The new elite troops, including Special Air Services soldiers and commandos, would be sent to Uruzgan Province in south-central Afghanistan.

"Their role will be to enhance provincial security by disrupting Taliban command and control supply routes and they will directly support the Australian reconstruction task force," he said.

Australia already has some 550 soldiers in Afghanistan, including about 370 with the reconstruction group.

Its total military commitment will reach about 950 troops by the middle of this year and 1,000 next year, he said.

Howard, a close ally of US President George W. Bush has also contributed some 1,400 troops to the US-led coalition in Iraq and said it was important Australia joined its allies to fight terrorism.

His conservative government faces a tough bid for re-election this year, with opinion polls showing that most Australians back the opposition Labor Party's plan to pull the troops out of Iraq.

But Labor leader Kevin Rudd supported the new troop deployment to Afghanistan, saying it was a breeding ground for terrorists and Howard had withdrawn troops too soon after the invasion.

Meanwhile, suspected Taliban militants ambushed an Afghan army convoy with rocket propelled grenades in southern Afghanistan, killing two soldiers and wounding up to 14, officials said.

The troops were attacked as they were traveling on the main highway on Monday, linking Kabul with Kandahar in Zabul Province, said Mohammad Omar, an official with the Afghan National Army.

Fourteen wounded soldiers were brought to a NATO base in the province for treatment. Suspected militants fled the area after the ambush, Omar said.

Afghan army regional commander General Rehmatullah Raufi said yesterday that two soldiers were killed in the incident.

Also in the south on Monday, suspected Taliban attacked a police vehicle north of Kandahar, leaving one policeman dead, provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai said.
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