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| Afghanistan |
| Slovak peacekeeping troops reported to be moving south |
| 2007-04-04 |
| PRAGUE, Apr 3, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Slovak troops in Afghanistan have started moving south from Kabul in response to a request from NATO, reports reaching here from Slovakia said on Tuesday. The first part of a military engineering unit have left Kabul by aircraft for Kandahar, a key front of NATO peace-keeping troops' fighting with the Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, Pravda, a Slovak daily, quoted a source close to the military as saying. The unit's equipment was transported in convoys, it added. The Slovak Defence Ministry refused to comment on the mobilization. "We will not comment on the move of the soldiers to a camp near Kandahar due to security reasons," Defense Ministry spokesman Vladimir Gemela said. Last year, NATO demanded that Slovakia deploy its troops in the turbulent south of Afghanistan. Around 60 Slovak soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force. The commanders of the Taliban have claimed that they had prepared 10,000 fighters including 2,000 suicide bombers to speed up their attacks against Afghan and foreign forces based in Afghanistan. Recently, the attacks have been more frequent in the mountainous areas in the south than in the relatively calmer north. The Slovak government approved the transfer of the troops to southern Afghanistan in late February on condition that they will not operate only in the air base. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Last year, NATO demanded that Slovakia deploy its troops in the turbulent south of Afghanistan. But not the Germans or the Italians? Charming. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-04 11:59 |
| #2 Any brand recommendations? :) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-04-04 10:27 |
| #1 Right on. Time to buy some more Slovakian blackcurrant cordial. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-04-04 10:09 |