CANBERRA, May 20 Australia offered to help train more Pakistani military officers on Wednesday and committed $9 million to humanitarian aid efforts in the country's troubled northwest.

The announcements came as General Tariq Majid, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Canberra to update officials on the fight against Taliban in the Swat valley.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Pakistan was facing complex challenges maintaining security and that success in fighting against the Taliban on its own soil was critical to regional and global security.

Mr Fitzgibbon said Australia would increase the number of places for Pakistani officers in its military training programmes from 10 to 70 next year.

“We appreciate that the Pakistan military has significant expertise in confronting the extremist and terrorist threat,” he said.

“Our increased engagement is focussed on providing training to assist Pakistan in this task.”

He said the enhanced military training programme would begin later this year, when six Pakistani officers would attend a counter-insurgency course in Australia.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith also announced $9 million in aid, saying more than a million people had been displaced in recent fighting.

He said the money would go the United Nations, Red Cross and other aid agencies providing services to internally displaced persons.—AFP