Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard said that the mission in Afghanistan will continue and the killing of Bin Laden did not mean Australia would withdraw from Afghanistan.
Al-Qaeda was not finished and the war against terrorism must continue. “Al-Qaeda has been hurt today but it would be far too early to make conclusions about what that might mean for the nature of the fight in Afghanistan.” She told reporters.
Ms Gillard added, “I trust that today’s news comes as some small measure of justice for those who still grieve the loss of their loved ones”.
The Prime Minister also said that Al-Qaeda will continue despite the leader brought to an end and has asked people to be more careful about their personal security, a warning to possible revenge attacks by al-Qaeda, in countries where there might be “mass gatherings” to protest the US killing.
Australia is one of the first countries to offer troops to the U.S. –led war in Afghanistan in 2001 and is the largest non-NATO military contributor, with about 1,500 troops in Afghanistan including special forces, military trainers and reconstruction teams and have lost 23 soldiers since 2001.
