'Small niche' of NZ troops to stay in Afghanistan

Published: 4:41PM Monday February 18, 2013 Source: ONE News

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  New Zealand soldiers perform drills in Afghanistan. - Source: ONE News

A "small niche" of New Zealand Defence Force personnel will stay in Afghanistan after the official withdrawal of Kiwi troops at the end of April, says Prime Minister John Key.

ONE News deputy political editor Jessica Mutch has tweeted that Key has announced 27 NZDF people, including three SAS members will stay on in Afghanistan.

The Government says at this stage most of them will stay to the end of April next year.

Cabinet today agreed on New Zealand's contribution to Afghanistan beyond the April withdrawal of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) from Bamyan province, in line with the joint International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Afghan transition plan.

ISAF, also known as the coalition forces, is the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said in a statement New Zealand "will continue to make a small but proportionate military commitment" to the international mission in Afghanistan from May this year, and that "we remain committed to international efforts to improve the security and prosperity of Afghanistan".

"The current NATO/ISAF mission is not scheduled to end until December 2014. As previously indicated, the Government believes it remains in New Zealand's interests to continue to play our part to secure the gains that have been achieved in Afghanistan over the last decade," McCully said.

"Most of these deployments will, initially, operate from the closing of the PRT in April, for a one-year period to the end of April 2014."

Coleman said 27 NZDF personnel will be based in Afghanistan, predominately in the capital, Kabul.

"While the overall numbers of this contribution are relatively small compared to the size of the PRT, the NZDF deployments cover a range of roles and will be highly-valued during the final stages of the ISAF mission," Coleman said.

"It is important that the gains that have been made over the last decade in security, development, health and human rights are not lost."

The group will include eight NZDF personnel deployed to the UK-led Afghan National Army Officer Training Academy in Kabul from later this year. As announced last year, this particular deployment is likely to extend beyond 2014.

Also in the group will be 12 NZDF personnel deployed to the ISAF Special Operations Forces headquarters, employed mainly in intelligence and planning roles, and three NZDF personnel with the ISAF headquarters in Kabul.

Three other NZDF support personnel will be part of the New Zealand "National Support Element" while one NZDF officer will be with the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.

Coleman said this week he will be visiting Brussels to attend the NATO/ISAF Defence Ministers' Meeting and he will use the opportunity to set out to partner countries what New Zealand's on-going contribution will be.

The deployments are in addition to New Zealand's commitment announced last year to contribute $US2 million per year from 2015 to help sustain the Afghan National Security Forces after the ISAF mission concludes.

New Zealand will also continue to provide development assistance to Bamyan province after the withdrawal of the PRT.

The New Zealand Embassy in Kabul is expected to close before the end of 2014.

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Source: http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/small-niche-nz-troops-stay-in-afghanistan-5344549?ref=rss

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