NZ troops arrive for Afghanistan election mission

Lance Corporal Sas Winikrei arrives at Bamiyan airport as part of the fifth contingent of New Zealand soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan. Picture / Ash Sweeting

The fifth and largest contingent of New Zealand soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan arrived on the snow-covered strip of dirt that is Bamiyan airport in Afghanistan to the sounds of a haka.

The new 121-member New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team will help communities in Bamiyan Province as well as assist in the country's April parliamentary elections.

Two police officers have also been added to the contingent to assist with the training of the local police force.

The changeover ceremony for the NZPRT took place last week. Bamiyan Governor Mohamed Rahim Aliyar thanked the outgoing contingent for their work.

Lying deep within the Hindi Kush, Bamiyan is one of the most rugged parts of Afghanistan, and is referred to as "wild west" by Patrol Commander Major Roger Earp.

The New Zealand patrols have had to deal with deep snow trying to cross passes higher than Aoraki (Mt Cook), intense cold in the winter, burning heat in the summer, dust that wreaked havoc with equipment and roads that make the standard farm track seem like a highway.

But according to Major Earp, the biggest challenge was "understanding the politics, culture, inter-relationships and trying to identify the Afghan solution to the problem".

For the members of the outgoing contingent, the highlight of their tour is almost universally last October's inaugural Afghan presidential elections. The New Zealanders provided security throughout the province.

They also assisted with transporting ballot boxes, many of which had to be carted on donkeys for more than two days to the nearest road.

"Election day was an amazing event. There had been 10cm of snow overnight and people were lining up at polling booths at 3am in the snow," said Commander Colonel Mick Alexander.

Other major achievements of the soldiers have been the location, collection and destruction of more than 25 tonnes of illegal munitions from 10 caches and the construction of six bridges and three schools.

They have also helped to train local police and, along with NZAID, provided vocational training to hundreds of soldiers who had given up their guns to live a peaceful civilian life.

In an unprecedented step, the team worked with UNHCR and UNICEF, which generally try to distance themselves from any association with the military. Together they handed out winter clothing donated from New Zealand, Japan and the United States to the children of 1500 poor families in the drought-ravaged province. It was a significant act as the nearby German contingent had retreated to their base and hid during violent riots in the city of Faizabad last September.

The largest challenge for the incoming soldiers, who have been preparing for this mission since October, will be the upcoming parliamentary elections, said their commander, Group Captain John Duxfield.

Security will be an issue during the run-up to the elections - the second step on the plan to democracy - as deep rivalries within the province are likely to emerge.

"To maintain stability we need to build relationships, build trust," he said. "We can't operate without the consensus of the population."

One of the first tasks will be disarming the militias of a few rogue commanders in the south of the province.

Captain Sara Harrison, the first female patrol commander deployed in Afghanistan, said she had "probably the best job in the New Zealand Defence Forces at the moment".

She regards her biggest challenge as "keeping up morale over the tour".

The 104 departing soldiers are relishing getting home to family and friends. For gunner Private Kelly French, his first time out of New Zealand has been an amazing experience. "Afghanistan is really different. It's a real war-torn country with lots of poverty," he said.

"Some [Afghans] look a lot like Maori - they could pass as my uncles or as my little cousins."