US wants Bangladesh to deploy troops in Afghanistan

DHAKA - The US wants Bangladesh to deploy its troops in Afghanistan “to establish security and stability”, authorities said.

Bangladesh said it would do “whatever it can to help restore peace in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan”.

A Foreign Office news release said the subject was discussed when US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard C. Holbrooke met Foreign Minister Dipu Moni at her hotel suite in New York last Thursday.

He sought “any kind of help like deploying combat troops”, providing economic and development assistance, and training for the law enforcement agencies to establish security and stability in Afghanistan, the news release said.

Moni assured him that Bangladesh would do whatever it can to help restore peace in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan, New Age newspaper said.

Bangladesh has already offered to send teachers and doctors to Afghanistan, she said.

The newspaper opposed any move to send Bangladeshi troops to Afghanistan in an editorial published Monday.

“Request for deployment of combat troops from a ‘Muslim-majority’ country to perpetuate occupation of another ‘Muslim-majority’ country is an old trick that the US has sought to play time and again.

“A similar request for Bangladeshi troops was made during the Bush years for deployment in Iraq,” the editorial recalled.