NATO war planners are expected to request additional Australian ground troops to reinforce Afghanistan’s volatile Kandahar Province in response to Canadian plans to withdraw its 2500-strong force next year. The US has already made approaches resulting in the deployment of special forces to the Sha Wali Kot Valley in northern Kandahar the site of recent clashes with Taliban militants. Pressure is on to commit more troops to be engaged in combat operations in NATO-led attempts to secure on e fo Afghanistan’s most lawless and violent regions.
The Gillard government is opposed to any increase in Afghan troop levels above the current 1550 deployment.
This stuff directly and deeply affects our Defence families living here in this valley.