Agence France-Presse, The Italian government May 15 announced it was beefing up its military presence in Afghanistan, sending five new helicopters, 18 armored vehicles and 145 additional troops.
Defense Minister Arturo Parisi told a special commission of the Senate that the aim was to reinforce the security of the Italian contingent’s operations through speedier responses and movement, ANSA news agency reported.
But it “will not modify the nature of our participation in the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission, nor the objectives of our presence,” he said.
The cost of the operation was estimated at 25.9 million euros (35 million dollars).
There are some 2,000 Italian soldiers in Afghanistan deployed between Kabul and the western city of Herat, far from the country’s restive south. They are part of the 37,000-strong ISAF force in the country.
Italy’s deployment in Afghanistan is a sensitive issue for the fragile center-left coalition of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
In February, far-left elements sparked a major political crisis by voting against Prodi’s foreign policy in the Senate, prompting Prodi to resign before being reinstated and surviving confidence votes in both houses of parliament.
On March 27, Italy said it would reinforce its troops in Afghanistan after the ISAF launched a sweeping offensive against the Taliban.
