New Zealand troops off to Afghanistan
Thursday January 27, 2005
The Minister of Defence, Hon Mark Burton will farewell the New Zealand Defence Force contingent for Afghanistan at Christchurch airport on Saturday January 29, 2005. The deployment of 120-strong New Zealand led Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZ PRT) will replace the current NZ PRT in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.
The new contingent is to be led by Group Captain John Duxfield who has visited Afghanistan before and spent time with the development group, which organises tasks for the NZ PRT.
“We are fortunate in the New Zealand Defence Force that we have such an extensive array of operational experience. Most team members have been on missions in Timor Leste, Solomon Islands or Bougainville, and many of the officers in the deployment have completed United Nations tours of duty to countries like Somalia and Lebanon. We have considerable skills and experience in the team,” says Group Captain John Duxfield.
The NZ PRT will undertake engineering projects, school refurbishments, and local village health programmes. They will also continue with the patrol in and around Bamyan and will assist with the Parliamentary elections in April.
New Zealand first committed troops to the Bamyan Province in September 2003 and the Government announced yesterday that it has extended New Zealand’s contribution until September 2006.
Media interested in attending the departure need to contact Rebecca Reedy at Defence Public Relations on 04 496 0296 or 027 444 3404.
Photo Caption: Deployment Commander Group Captain John Duxfield
For further information please contact Defence Press Officer, Ph: (04) 4960299
This page was last reviewed 29 September, 2011 and is current.
