Australia in Afghanistan: Quick guide

• How many Australian troops are in Afghanistan, and who are they?
• Why are they there?
• Where are Australian troops located?
• How long have they been fighting?
• Who are they fighting?
• Who are Australian troops fighting beside in Afghanistan?
• What about casualties?
• What is the security situation?

Detailed navigation

How many Australian troops are in Afghanistan, and who are they?

As of September 2008, there were 1,080 Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan, deployed in the following groups:

• a National Command Element in Kabul;

• a Reconstruction Task Force based in Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan Province as part of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Provincial Reconstruction Team;

• a Special Operations Task Group deployed to Oruzgan province as part of ISAF operations against insurgents; and

• an RAAF Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) deployed at Kandahar Air Field

• a Chinook helicopter detachment based at Kandahar in Helmand province in support of ISAF operations;

• a small Artillery Contingent of 16 soldiers deployed with British forces in Helmand province;

• an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Detachment of approximately 30 personnel

• Force Level Logistic Asset consisting of approximately 60 personnel at ISAF headquarters in Kandahar

Why are they there?

Australian forces are deployed to Afghanistan at the invitation of the Afghan government, and under a United Nations mandate from Security Council Resolution Resolution 1386 (2001) which "calls upon Member States to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to the International Security Assistance Force". The Australian government describes Operation Slipper as "the ADF’s contribution to the international coalition against terrorism." The government has explained Australia's commitment to Afghanistan as necessary to help establish democracy in Afghanistan, to prevent a re-emergence of the country as a base for terrorism, and to prevent the country becoming a narco-state. 

Where are Australian troops located?

ADF forces attached to Operation Slipper are based in a number of different locations in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. In Afghanistan they are mainly located in Kabul (National Command Element), Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province (Reconstruction Task Force, and parts of the Special Operations Task Group), Kandahar in Helmand Province (Kandahar Mobile Control and Reporting Unit), and British Forward Operating Bases in Helmand Province (Artillery Contingent).

How long have they been fighting?

ADF forces consisting of a Special Forces Task Group were first deployed in late 2001, and then withdrawn in late 2002. The Special Operations Task Group was redeployed from September 2005 to September 2006, and once again from March 2007. The  Reconstruction Task Force was deployed in March 2006. A CH-47 Chinook helicopter detachment was deployed in Kandahar from March 2006 until April 2007.  Royal Australian Navy deployments in the Persian Gulf since July 2001 have been engaged continuously in operations in relation to both Iraq and Afghanistan .

Who are they fighting?

Armed opposition to the Afghan government comes from three main groupings:

• the Taliban, the Afghani-Pakistani Islamic movement that formed the government overthrown by the US in late 2001;

• Al Qaeda - Afghanistan, the network of militant Islamic groups that carried out the 9.11 attacks, and subsequently reformed after the US invasion of Afghanistan; and

• a range of Afghan Warlords and militia groups, most prominently  the former US ally Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party).

Who are Australian troops fighting beside in Afghanistan?

Australia is part of a coalition of UN member countries supporting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. ADF forces are deployed under two separate but coordinated coalition military operations: the NATO-auspiced International Security Assistance Force and the United States-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

What about casualties?

As of September 2008 six soldiers have died in fighting in Afghanistan. As of As of September 2008, there have been 963 US and ISAF soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan. The number of anti-government insurgents killed  is unknown, and while large numbers of civilians have died in the war since late 2001, the exact number is unknown. However  the Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been increasingly vocal in his public criticisms of civilian deaths resulting from US military actions.  

What is the security situation?

"Afghanistan is a good and winnable war but, at the pace we are proceeding, we need to realise that we could actually fail here."

General David Richards,
Britain's commander of international forces in Afghanistan, July 2007

 "The situation in Afghanistan is much worse than many people recognise."

Lord Inge, the former chief of the British defence staff, July 2007.

"There is growing evidence that Afghans increasingly resent US and NATO military activity, that the Taliban are able to capitalize on the failures of the central government and foreign aid process, and that US sweeps and air strikes are often seen as directed at Afghan civilians. NATO lacks unity on the battlefield, and the economic aid program reaches far too little of the countryside. The Afghan central government not only is ineffective (and often simply not present), it is corrupt and making little progress in providing services and effective governance. Afghanistan remains a drug economy. While the Taliban is not popular in many areas, and is not winning tactically, it is expanding its presence and areas of influence. At the same time, Pakistan increasingly threatens to become a second front."

Anthony H. Cordesman, CSIS, 18 May 2007.

  Project coordinator: Richard Tanter
Updated: 20 September 2008