New Zealand is to send 96 Defense Force personnel for a six-month tour of duty with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan, according to a government press release here Wednesday.

The contingent will leave for Afghanistan on Thursday from Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand.

New Zealand first committed troops to the PRT in the Bamyan Province of Afghanistan in September 2003.

The press release said the PRT had been making a significant contribution to the rebuilding of the Bamyan infrastructure including the recent reopening of the Bamyan University.

The PRT is designed to assist the Afghan Transitional Government in extending its influence beyond Kabul, and promote reconstruction in Bamyan and assess civil, political and military reform efforts through community engagement, the press release said.

Source: Xinhua