Slovakia will send 20 special services officers to Afghanistan for the first time since the U.S.-led international coalition began its operation against Taliban two decades ago, the Slovak TASR news agency has reported quoting the country’s defense minister.
The soldiers, who will join the 346 Slovak troops already serving in the war-torn southern Central Asian country, will be involved both in special operations and in training Afghan security officers, Lubomir Galko was quoted as saying.
The Slovak troops are currently deployed in Kabul and the volatile southern province of Kandahar.
The 47-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) currently has more than 130,000 troops in Afghanistan. The U.S.-led coalition has been fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan since 2001, but attacks on foreign and Afghan troops, police, and civilians are still frequent.
U.S. troops are scheduled to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2011, followed by other contingents involved in the ISAF. Responsibility for security will be gradually handed over to Afghan military and security forces.