Gillard visits troops in Afghanistan

Australia: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has flown to Afghanistan to personally pay tribute to Australian troops fighting in Afghanistan, while honoring the 21 soldiers killed in the conflict since 2001, Australia’s media reported Sunday.

Gillard arrived in Afghanistan Saturday afternoon to see the Australian troops, and to discuss the country ‘s military presence in Afghanistan with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

According to ABC News, the number of Australian troops in Afghanistan has become a major issue in recent weeks following the publication of an email from a front-line soldier, who argues Australian forces are under-resourced.

Gillard visited troops based at Tarin Kowt during the brief stop-off, where she shared a meal with some soldiers, and was asked about the possibility of sending more troops and equipment.

“We review continuously and as soon as we get any recommendations we certainly deal with them urgently and don’t let them delay,” Gillard told ABC News Sunday.

“So if we got a recommendation from the CDF (Chief of the Defence Force) into our national security committee that you need something we would deal with that immediately.” Gillard said she is proud of how Australian troops are performing.

“I anticipated when I came here... that I was going to be impressed and I certainly am. We are proud of our people, they get a great job done,” she said.

Gillard will then spend three days in Brussels of Belgium attending the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), a gathering of 16 Asian leaders and the 27 members of the European Union.

Canberra, Sunday, Xinhua