Dhaka cautious about sending troops to Afghanistan

DHAKA - The US has said that it has intensified discussions with Bangladesh about that country sending its troops to Afghanistan, but Dhaka is ‘cautious’ about it.

The United States has intensified its discussion on Bangladesh’s engagement in Afghanistan for global peace and stability, Nicholas Dean, the current charge d’affaires of the US mission here, told media here Thursday.

Bangladesh foreign ministry sources said that the US government has been trying to persuade Dhaka to send soldiers to Afghanistan as Washington reportedly plans to withdraw from the war-torn country supposedly dominated by fundamentalist Islamist radicals that are understandably strongly anti-American, New Age newspaper said Friday.

But Dhaka is very `cautious’ about the American request since the government would be in trouble if it bows to this US pressure, said officials.

Besides, officials say, Bangladeshi troops would not be able to face the brutal and fanatic fighters in Afghanistan as the American and NATO troops with sophisticated and superior weaponry could not root them out.