More troops rushed to Solomons
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia is rushing extra troops to the Solomon Islands following the shooting Wednesday of an Australian police officer on patrol in the capital Honiara.
The deployment of 100 Australian Defense Force rapid-response soldiers to the struggling South Pacific nation was jointly announced late Wednesday by Australia's Defense and Foreign Affairs ministries.
A 26-year-old AFP Protective Service Officer, Adam Dunning, was shot early Wednesday while on a routine patrol with another officer.
"This strengthened military presence will support police in carrying out their work to complete the restoration of law and order in Solomon Islands," a joint ministerial statement said.
The additional deployment had the full support of the Solomon Islands Prime Minister, it said.
Dunning's death is the first fatality among about 300 Australian police and troops serving as part of a regional peacekeeping force in the Solomons.
"I'd like on behalf of all Australians to express my sorrow and sadness to his parents and the other members of his family," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told journalists Wednesday.
"Officer Dunning died on active duty for Australia. It's a very sad event, it's a reminder that although that intervention has been remarkably successful it is dangerous," Howard said.
Australian police have begun an investigation of the killing in collaboration with the Royal Solomon Islands Police.
In July 2003, Australia led a force of 2,225 police and soldiers to the Solomons, located about 1,800 km (1,100 miles) to the northeast of Australia, to restore order there, following a breakdown in law and order that began with the onset of ethnic violence in 1998.
Armed gangs were terrorizing the Solomons' population of 450,000 people until the force arrived.
It was the largest military deployment in the South Pacific since World War II and was legalized by the Solomons parliament.
The force had since been reduced to about 300 police and 1000 troops.
Police from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati are involved and are currently led by Australian Federal Police agent Sandi Peisley, who is commander of the Participating Police Force (PPF).
So far more than 3,700 weapons have been collected and destroyed, but Wednesday's killing shows that security is not fully assured.
Australia also has a police presence in neighboring Papua New Guinea (PNG), where the declining security and economic situation has been described as "the most pressing foreign policy challenge facing Australia" in the near term.
A report released earlier this month by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says PNG is facing a vicious cycle of failing governance and revenue which will require Canberra to adopt a fresh policy approach to the country.
"In PNG, despite important bits of good news, things have slowly but steadily worsened," the report says. "There is no acute crisis, but many long-term trends are negative."
Canberra has recently deployed more than 200 police and scores of officials to PNG to help improve law and order, economic management, border control and transport security.
This month Australian police began joint patrols with PNG officers in the crime-ridden streets of PNG capital's Port Moresby where gangs of armed criminals known as "raskols" often operate with impunity.
PNG is Australia's largest aid recipient receiving nearly Aust. $15.5 billion (about $11 billion) since the nation gained independence from Australian administration in 1975.
