Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday announced that the Australian government decided to send an extra 150 Australian troops to Afghanistan amid worsening security situation in the war-torn Asian country.

Howard made the announcement in a statement to parliament.

"The purpose of this statement is to inform the House of the government's decision to send to Afghanistan an additional 150 troops of the ADF (Australian Defense Force) to reinforce the reconstruction task force and to provide enhanced force protection, " he said.

The reconstruction task force would remain in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province for two years and would undertake construction projects, provide project management skills and deliver trade training, he said, adding that some troops would begin deploying this month with the majority leaving for Afghanistan in September.

The additional deployments will therefore bring the total reconstruction task force strength to approximately 400.

This is the second time Australia decided to send more troops to Afghanistan in three months.

The Australian government announced in May that it will send a 240-strong provincial reconstruction team to Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua