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Brass Give Send-Off to Troops Leaving for Afghanistan Friday
Thursday 22 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Presov, April 22 (TASR) - Another 57 guard troops leaving Friday for a six-month stint in Afghanistan were given a ceremonial send-off at a muster a day earlier at the Sokolovske military barracks in Presov.
Peter Gajdos, Armed Forces Chief of General Staff, said that troops will be stationed at the airport in Kandahar, where they will be checking the traffic going through entry points and protecting designated facilities.
Defence Minister Minister Jaroslav Baska noted that Slovakia deployed a total of 13,000 troops for more than 30 missions since its inception 17 years before.
Baska said that the current tour of duty, troops for which were drawn from the 2nd Mechanized Brigade in Presov and a battalion in Nitra, was approved by lawmakers two months ago and is one of a series of deployments prepared for this year. Next increase will be voted on by the new Parliament emerging from June 12 election.
According to him, 244 troops now in Afghanistan are planned to be raised to more than 400 early next year.
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