Diggers build bridges in Afghanistan
Posted
Updated
Reconstruction: Australian soldiers at work on one of the bridges (Department of Defence)
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) says Australian troops have played a major role in reopening a main Afghan supply route which was sabotaged by Taliban fighters.
Soldiers from the Reconstruction Task Force rebuilt two bridges along the highway linking Kabul and Kandahar.
The ADF says a combat team fought a Taliban attack, extreme heat and sandstorms to complete the restoration in half the time expected.
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Yeaman says it was a significant operation.
"The Taliban had sabotaged a number of key bridges along the road between Kabul and Kandahar," he said.
"Our job was to come out of our province to rebuild those bridges and to move back safely.
"Our role as the reconstruction taskforce combines two components, a security component and an engineering component.
"We were one of the few organisations available to ISAF who could put those two components together."
