Australia to send troops to back Afghanistan

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia plans to send up to 400 troops, including elite special forces and construction engineers, to Afghanistan to help hunt down a resurgent al Qaeda, Australian newspapers said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister John Howard and his cabinet met for several hours on Tuesday to consider the deployment to provide direct assistance to U.S. forces, which have suffered their worst combat losses in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

The Australian newspaper said the cabinet decided to send 150 special forces, as well as Black Hawk helicopters and engineers back to Afghanistan. The Australian Financial Review said up to 300 engineers with an infantry protection group were likely to be sent, alongside about 75 special forces.

Semper Fi