14:00, 18 May 2013

In Afghanistan, Georgian military contingent placed under US command

On May 17, the Parliament of Georgia adopted a decision to transfer the Georgian troops deployed in Afghanistan from under command of France to the command of the United States.

In November 2009, a group of servicemen of the Georgian Ministry of Defence (MoD) first went to Afghanistan to support the ISAF operation, held under the auspices of the NATO. Georgian troops were sent to serve under the command of the French contingent.

The transfer under the US command was made due to the rotation of command; it will not lead to any change in the number of Georgian soldiers participating in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, the "Georgia Online" quotes the statement of the MoD.

Currently, 1600 Georgian soldiers are taking their service in Afghanistan – the largest contingent of the countries-non-members of the NATO.

"It is unclear why our country is represented by the largest contingent in Afghanistan; at the time when NATO members, like Great Britain, France and Germany keep their troops there at the minimum," Nino Burdjanadze, the leader of the "Democratic Movement", said as quoted by the "Tbilisi Week".