By NNN-Bernama
Melbourne : The Australia government is to adopt a stronger role in training Afghan soldiers so that they can secure territory which traditionally revert to insurgent control as soon as coalition soldiers withdraw, says Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
He said the new training team to be sent to the country would number 70 and include soldiers for security plus experienced personnel to instruct members of a 600-strong Afghan National Army Battalion in military skills. Work already had started on this transition.
“We want a greater emphasis on training of the Afghan National Army (ANA). We see strengthening of the ANA as critical to long-term military success,” he is quoted by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency as saying Tuesday.
“The key to long-term military success is making sure the ANA reaches critical mass and has the skill level required to hold down military gains. This has been one of our great frustrations.
“Our special forces have cleared areas only to see them fall back to the insurgency after we leave. Giving the ANA a capacity to hold these areas is absolutely critical.”
Fitzgibbon said a prime example was the Chora Valley, a short distance from the Australian-Dutch base at Tarin Kowt in the restive Oruzgan province in the country’s south-central region. This has been the scene of large-scale operations and regular bitter fighting but has persistently reverted to Taliban control.
Australia has some 1,000 troops inside Afghanistan, including the 300-member special forces task group, the 400-member reconstruction task force, a helicopter unit, Royal Australian Air Force radar team, plus support personnel.
Under the plan, the training team will replace some reconstruction task force members, making no increase in overall numbers. Fitzgibbon said the work of the reconstruction task force ebbed and flowed and the transition could be achieved without excessively impacting on their good work.
He told Parliament in Canberra the government of Afghanistan needed to be able to develop its security forces to provide for the security for its own citizens into the future.
“Based on both our review and consultation with partners, the government believes the time is right for Australia to evolve the role of its forces so that the additional task of training the Afghan army can be adopted,” he said in a ministerial statement.