The cabinet approved a request by the defence ministry to send the officers in response to the increasingly difficult security situation in Afghanistan, it said.

Thailand sent 90 engineers, 12 medics and 18 special warfare officers and coordinators to Afghanistan for a six-month mission to repair Bagram air base outside Kabul beginning on April 1.

"Military engineer operations (in Afghanistan) are increasingly dangerous and may cause loss of lives at any moment during the engineers' movements," the statement said.

The new unit of officers will provide escort security for the engineers as they fly between Bagram and other areas, and for their commanders during inspection trips from Thailand.

The Bagram air base north of Kabul was a focal point in the fighting that ravaged Afghanistan for decades.

WAR.WIRE