South Asia News
New Zealand special forces to leave Afghanistan in March
Dec 21, 2011, 22:53 GMT
Wellington - New Zealand's 35 special forces soldiers in Afghanistan will be withdrawn in March, Prime Minister John Key confirmed on Thursday.
The end of the Special Air Services' deployment to Afghanistan that began 10 years ago has long been foreshadowed.
'The SAS has achieved the job they were sent to do with Kabul's Crisis Response Unit (CRU), and they have done that job to the very highest of standards,' Key said.
'Thanks to the SAS's efforts, the CRU is widely considered to be one of the best trained and most professional units operating in Afghanistan today.'
Two members of the squad died in action this year.
A separate unit of about 150 New Zealand infantry troops, working as a provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan province since 2003, is scheduled to remain until 2014, when the US-led international force is slated to withdraw.
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