New Zealand troops to remain in Afghanistan to support security

New Zealand troops to remain in Afghanistan to support security

New Zealand troops will remain in Afghanistan to support security and reconstruction efforts for another 17 months, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday.

Some 120 troops involved in provincial reconstruction in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, northeast of the capital Kabul, will continue operating there until September 2007, she said.

"We think the assistance it provides is valuable to Afghanistan. I think the whole world community has an interest in Afghanistan not deteriorating as it did prior to Sept. 11 (2001) as a haven for terrorist activities," she told reporters, reports the AP.

I.L.