SAS will face stronger Taleban

New Zealand's decision yesterday to send the SAS back to Afghanistan came as the top US general there warned that the Taleban are gaining the upper hand.

General Stanley McChrystal told the Wall Street Journal the insurgents were moving beyond their strongholds in the south to threaten formerly stable areas in the north and west.

Prime Minister John Key said the SAS would go back for 18 months - the first such deployment since 2005.

He said it had been a difficult decision but New Zealand had to play its part in combating the breeding grounds for terrorism.

The recent bombings in Jakarta showed this country was not immune.

However, Mr Key said, New Zealand's armed forces would be pulled out within five years under a new "orderly exit" strategy.

He said the government wanted to gradually withdraw its 140 military personnel working in the Bamiyan Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) over the next three to five years.

In their place, it would gradually introduce more civilian experts and aid workers to focus on health, education, agriculture and strengthening the Afghan police force.

While Mr Key said he had hoped to withdraw the troops sooner, he was cautious, saying that leaving before Afghan administrations and police were ready to take over would waste the efforts of the PRT.

General McChrystal is preparing an interim assessment that is expected to be a sober accounting of the difficulties of fighting an entrenched and technically capable insurgency eight years into the war.

He is expected to identify shortfalls that should be filled by more forces - perhaps a mix of Afghan, Nato and US.

US National Security Adviser James Jones said yesterday that the United States would know "by the end of next year" whether the revamped war plan President Barack Obama announced in March was taking hold.

He did not rule out adding more US forces to help to turn around the war.

In a break from the traditionally bipartisan positions on defence and foreign affairs, Labour leader Phil Goff said he did not support sending the SAS back and believed Mr Key had caved in to "overt" US pressure.

The decision risked jeopardising the goodwill the PRT had built up.

New Zealand was small and "the number of people we put in in terms of the SAS is not going to make the difference one way or the other".

Mr Goff said there was a high risk of civilian casualties in fighting the insurgents and New Zealand's efforts were better used in reconstruction.

The decision to send the SAS back follows a government review of New Zealand's role and requests for Wellington to send the troops to work again alongside American special forces against the Taleban and Al Qaeda.

It will be the fourth deployment of the SAS to Afghanistan. The decision to send the previous deployments in 2001, 2004 and 2005 was made by the Labour government, and yesterday Mr Key called on Mr Goff and his party to support the new mission, saying it was not a time to play politics.

Mr Key said he had indicated to a US representative at the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns last week that the deployment would go ahead, but denied the decision was solely an attempt to please Washington.

The PM would not comment on the troops' specific role or where they would be based. They would work alongside other special forces but would remain under NZ command and had the right to refuse to take part in any particular mission.

Mr Key has previously said he did not want the SAS to train the Afghan Army because of the danger.

Green Party associate foreign affairs spokesman Kennedy Graham said the decision was based on "muddled thinking" and the result of pressure from the US.

Previous SAS deployments have involving working as part of the US-led Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force. The New Zealanders' work included special reconnaissance patrols, personnel protection and specialist searches as well as planning and undertaking missions against Al Qaeda and the Taleban.

* Cabinet's plans for Afghanistan

Three rotations of 70 Special Air Services troops over 18 months.

Withdraw soldiers in the Provincial Reconstruction Team over the next three to five years.

Send more aid and civilian experts to work in policing, agriculture, health and education.

Appoint a "development adviser" to the Provincial Reconstruction Team to oversee change.

Name a senior diplomat as ambassador to Afghanistan and base him or her there rather than in Tehran as at present.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AP