PM on flying Anzac visits to Aussie troops
IRAQ: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made unannounced Anzac Day-eve visits to Iraq and Afghanistan to meet serving Australian troops, and leaders of both countries.
In a strictly controlled operation - the details of which were kept secret to protect the safety of Turnbull and his travelling party the prime minister visited Iraq on Sunday, and Afghanistan on Monday. His office announced the visits on social media yesterday, posting a photo on Twitter of Turnbull surrounded by Australian forces in Afghanistan.
In Iraq, Turnbull met with troops at Camp Taji, a military base used by Australian and New Zealand troops, and received a Maori welcome ceremony from the Kiwis stationed there.
Despite being a secure facility, the base has been marred by deadly violence. In June last year four Iraqi soldiers were killed, and 12 wounded, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the northern gate. Earlier that month a car bomb exploded at the southern end of the base, killing seven Iraqi men.
Australian forces involved in the Building Partner Capacity Mission at Taji have now trained more than 20,000 Iraqi Security Forces personnel and 3000 federal police.
In Baghdad, Turnbull thanked Special Forces troops for their service and handed out 15 service medals. For more than two years, the Australian Special Operations Task Group has been advising and assisting the Iraqi CounterTerrorism Service in the fight against Islamic State, providing leadership, counter-terrorism and tactical movement training, and removing improvised explosive devices.
Turnbull also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and congratulated him on the strong military gains against Isis, which has lost more 60 per cent of the territory it once held in Iraq.
Turnbull said Australia would provide a further A$110 million in humanitarian and stabilisation assistance for Iraq.
In the last year alone, Australia’s aid programme in Afghanistan has helped to enrol more than 5000 children in school, trained more than 9000 farmers and funded multiple women’s shelters.
There are more than 1700 Australian Defence Force personnel deployed in the Middle East, with about 750 contributing to Operation Okra in Iraq and Syria, and 270 contributing to Operation Highroad in Afghanistan.
Since 2002, 42 Australian troops have been killed in Afghanistan, and two in Iraq.
On Monday, Turnbull, accompanied by Australian Chief of Defence Force Air Marshall Mark Binskin, made a lightning visit to Afghanistan. He visited troops serving at Camp Qargha near the capital, Kabul, and met with Afghan President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani, United States Secretary of Defence James Mattis, and Commander General of the International Security Assistance Force, John ‘‘Mick’’ Nicholson.
Turnbull reiterated his commitment to defeating terrorism and working alongside US, Nato and Afghan allies to build Afghanistan’s security institutions.
Turnbull’s office released an Anzac Day message on his Facebook page, in which he paid tribute to the service of Australian servicemen and women, and those they left behind. ‘‘Their sacrifice has protected our liberty and our values. And their legacy continues in the work of those who serve today.’’ - Fairfax, AAP