By Xinhua,
Canberra : The Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said here on Sunday it was important for Australia to remain troops in Afghanistan to prevent a repeat of terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia.
Smith told the Ten Network it was essential for the international community and in Australia’s national interests to stay in Afghanistan.
“There’s no doubt that this is the current center of international terrorism. What we know about international terrorism in the modern world is it moves quickly … north to Europe and south to Southeast Asia. We’ve already been on the receiving end of terrorism in Southeast Asia. We don’t want to be on the receiving end again,” Smith said.
Ninety-two Australians died in two of four significant terrorist attacks directed by militant Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) against western interests in Indonesia from 2002-05.
Smith also said the government had made it clear there would beno increase to the current Australian commitment of nearly 1,100 troops.
The deployment was not just a symbolic contribution as Australia was the largest non-NATO troop contributor.
“In addition to our forces we have a substantial capacity-building humanitarian assistance and development assistance into Afghanistan,” he said.