Tonga to send more than two hundred troops to Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

Tonga to send more than two hundred troops to Afghanistan

2010-10-08 19:04:01 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON / NUKU'ALOFA (BNO NEWS) -- The tiny Pacific island nation of Tonga will send more than two hundred troops to southern Afghanistan over the next two years, defense officials promised on Friday.

The pledge comes at a time when some countries in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are considering to leave Afghanistan or scale down their presence in the war-torn country. Tonga, however, wants to show its support to the alliance.

Brigadier General Tau’aika ‘Uta’Atu, Commander of the Tongan Defence Services, signed an agreement on Friday during a visit to the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters just outside London. The agreement promises to commit more than 200 Tongan troops to ISAF's mission in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province over the next two years.

"We welcome the Tongan contribution to the ISAF military strength in Helmand," said UK Secretary of State for Defence Dr Liam Fox. "This deployment represents a significant contribution from a comparatively small country and further demonstrates the continued will of the international community to work towards a stable and secure Afghanistan."

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by ‘Uta’Atu and Britain's Chief of Joint Operations, Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, during a simple ceremony. Nick Williams, head of the Operations Section at NATO's Operations Division, was present on behalf of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"We are proud to have the Tongans serving with us," Peach said. "They are an excellent defence force and we are looking forward to working with them in Helmand Province. Their contribution will make a difference to the commanders on the ground and we are committed to ensure they have all the support they need from us."

The two hundred Tongan troops will be deployed to central Helmand province over the next two years. There they will work with American, British, Estonian and Danish personnel, together with Afghan National Security Forces.

The first group of 55 Tongan troops will begin pre-deployment training with Britain's RAF Regiment throughout November, after which they will be posted in Afghanistan in a force protection role. It is a similar role they had during their deployment in Iraq.

As part of their deployment, the Tongan service members will receive an operational allowance in British pounds in addition to their standard salary for the duration of their deployment.

With the agreement signed, Tonga will become the 48th country to contribute to the international effort in Afghanistan.

Tonga, with a population of around 104,000, is made up of 169 islands sprinkled over the Pacific Ocean about one-third of the way from New Zealand to Hawaii. Only thirty-nine of the islands are inhabited.

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