Australia to consider any U.S. request for additional troop support in Afghanistan: defence minister

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CANBERRA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Tuesday that the federal government would "consider" any request from the United States to contribute further troops to Afghanistan.

In a statement following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he would "ask NATO allies and global partners" for further support in the region, Payne said that while Australian contribution is already "significant", the government would consider any formal request.

"We will examine the president's statement, consider any expectations of counterpart nations and engage in discussion with the U.S. on those matters," Payne said.

"Australia is making a significant contribution to operations including in Iraq and Syria, in Afghanistan and in our own region. In May we agreed to increase the ADF train, advise and assist mission in Afghanistan by 30 personnel, which will take our total troop numbers to around 300."

Meanwhile Peter Jennings from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) told News Corp that Australia would definitely be one of the nations from which Trump would seek support.

"We would certainly be among the allies they would expect to take a request like that seriously," Jennings told News Corp on Tuesday.

But he added that while the United States might be concerned with the situation in the Middle East and, in particular, Afghanistan, Australia should perhaps look at working against Islamic State (IS) in the Philippines - much closer to home.

"It might be smart to actually look at doing a bit more to assist with the Philippines because really we just can't let IS establish a hold in the South and that's probably for us where the most immediate problem is," Jennings said. Enditem

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