CHIEF OF ARMY VISITS SAF'S AFGHAN DEPLOYMENTS

Chief of Army Major-General (MG) Chan Chun Sing visited the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) artillery trainers in Kabul, Afghanistan and the Construction Engineering Team in the Bamiyan province on 16 Oct.

At the artillery school in Kabul where four trainers are deployed, team leader Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Nicholas Seow updated MG Chan on the efforts to train the Afghan National Army. During his visit to Kabul, MG Chan also met Deputy Commander of the International Security Assistance Force, Lieutenant General James Bucknall.

In Bamiyan, SAF handed over the Foladi Comprehensive Health Clinic (CHC) to local authorities, marking the close of the SAF's contributions to reconstruction efforts in the province.

Said Afghan provincial governor Dr Habiba Surabi: "Bamiyan is a remote area so Bamiyan people do not have ready access to the health system... So many Afghan women and children in this valley and this region will benefit from this clinic. We fully appreciate the support of the Singaporean military here. They've made a big contribution to the Bamiyan people."

The construction of the CHC was supervised by the six-man SAF construction engineering team led by LTC Royston Lim which has been deployed there since May as part of the New Zealand Defence Force Provincial Reconstruction Team.

The clinic is expected to serve 10,000 families in Foladi and the nearby villages.

The SAF has been making deployments to Bamiyan since 2007 and has helped in the areas of infrastructure building and the development of health-care capabilities. The teams sent have supervised the construction of two bridges, a culvert, a Paediatric and Women s Ward extension at the Bamiyan Provincial Hospital, a Regional Health Training Centre and a water supply project. Their other contributions include the set-up of a dental clinic at the hospital and the supervision of the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the locals.

The conclusion of SAF's Bamiyan deployments will allow the SAF to focus on other ongoing deployments in Afghanistan.

Besides the four artillery trainers in Kabul, existing SAF deployments in Afghanistan include a 21-man Weapon Locating Radar team and a 52-man Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Task Group deployed in the Uruzgan province. At the same time as MG Chan's visit, Republic of Singapore Air Force Chief of Staff Air Staff Brigadier-General Hoo Cher Mou visited the teams deployed in Uruzgan.