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New Zealand will send 18 more troops to Afghanistan, increasing the provincial reconstruction team there to 140.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Defence Minister Phil Goff said last night that the troops would be sent next month to join the Defence Force in Bamiyan province.
Helen Clark said the Government had been concerned about the level of instability in some neighbouring provinces "and the potential for that to spill over into Bamiyan province", where an explosive device was last week detonated as a New Zealand forces' vehicle drove past.
