No decision yet on Tonga's withdrawal from Afghanistan [1]
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - 18:55. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
Tonga had yet to decide whether to remain in Afghanistan until December 2014 or not, Brigadier Tau'aika 'Uta'atu, Commander of the Tonga Defence Services said on June 6.
Following the Chicago Summit he said that Britain had made a formal invitation for Tonga to continue to send Marines to Afghanistan until December 2014, but the Tonga Cabinet had not made a decision, and a Cabinet decision had to be put before a national security board before a decision was finalized.
Tau'aika said that the Tonga delegation returned to Tonga on June 5 after attending the NATO Chicago Summit from May 20-21, and to the 11th Asia-Pacific Defense Summit Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from June 1-3.
The delegation to the two summits was led by the Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano, and included Brigadier Tau'aika 'Uta'atu, the Acting Secretary to Government, Alfred Soakai and the Secretary for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mahe Tupouniua.
Tonga started sending contingents of 55 marines to Afghanistan in 2010, in response to an invitation by the British government. The fourth, and what was supposed to be the last contingent of Tongan Marines to serve in Afghanistan, departed Tonga in March. The Tongan troops are in Afghanistan on a six-months rotating service, where they come under the command of the NATO-led mission.