Georgian Defense Forces Arrive in Afghanistan
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, January 21
Quick Response Unit of the First Infantry Brigade of the Georgian Defense Forces has arrived in Afghanistan to take part in the NATO Resolute Support mission.
Georgia’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) reports that the soldiers will be deployed at the base Marmal in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The Georgian troops were welcomed by Colonel Malkhaz Merlani, the senior representative of the Georgian Defense Forces to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and Captain Andro Kankia, Head of the Reinforced Company of the 2nd Infantry Brigade.
The Ministry noted that before departing to Afghanistan, Georgian soldiers had three months of training in Georgia and five months of training in Germany where they received the highest scores.
Resolute Support Mission or Operation Resolute Support is a NATO-led train, advice and assist mission consisting of over 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, which began on January 1, 2015. It is a follow-on mission to the International Security Assistance Force which was completed on December 28, 2014.
The objective of the mission is to provide training, advice and assistance for Afghan security forces and institutions in their conflict with extremist groups such as the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and ISIS.
Since 2004, up to now within the frames of the 84 different rotations in various levels, 17 thousand Georgian military servicemen participated in the international mission in Afghanistan.
According to contingents participating in the mission in Afghanistan, Georgia is the largest non-NATO member contributor to global security.
So far 32 military servicemen of the Georgian Armed Forces were killed in the fight against international terrorism while hundreds have been wounded.
