155 Georgian troops home from Afghanistan

KABUL for their homeland after serving for six months in southern Helmand province, the country’s defence ministry said on Wednesday.

The troops were received by Defence Minister Irakli Alasania at the airport, where pupils and teachers of the Rustavi school #42 also were also present. The servicemen handed over Georgia’s flag to them as a sign of gratitude.

According to the Defence Ministry, the Georgian soldiers of the 42nd Battalion of the Fourth Infantry Brigade, have served in Afghanistan for six months participating in a peacekeeping operation as part of the ISAF mission.

“With a sense of pride, I would like to say that these courageous men defended both international security and the security of Georgia with high professionalism. I wish them great success,” Alasania said.

The soldiers were also met by the Chief of the Joint Staff of Georgian Armed Forces (GAF), Colonel Irakli Dzneladze, First Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of GAF Brigadier-General Vakhtang Kapanadze, Commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade, Colonel Zaza Leladze and other officials, as well as relatives and friends of the servicemen.

In June this year, seven Georgian soldiers were killed in a suicide small truck bombing in Nawzad district in the battlefield province of Helmand. On May 13, three soldiers from the ex-Soviet state were killed in a similar attack in the same province.

With over 1,500 soldiers serving in Helmand, Georgia has the largest non-NATO combat troop commitment in Afghanistan.

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