Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

A group of 50 Azerbaijani military personnel has been sent to Afghanistan in accordance with the plan and rotation for serving within NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry reported on October 10.

The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving in Afghanistan since November 20, 2002. Currently, 90 servicemen, two medical officers and two sappers of Azerbaijani Armed Forces are participating in a mission in Afghanistan.

Resolute Support is a NATO-led training, advisory, assistance, and counter-terror 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 (ISAF), which was completed on December 28, 2014.

Azerbaijan, as a reliable partner of NATO and friend of brotherly Afghanistan, is committed to continue its significant contribution to the Resolute Support Mission by providing troops, multi-modal transit, training and financial assistance.

The country has several times made substantial donations to the Afghan National Army (ANA) Trust Fund. Moreover, Azerbaijan supports Afghanistan on its path of reforms towards integrating into regional and global economy.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan allowed the NATO planes carrying non-combat loads for a mission in Afghanistan to fly through Azerbaijan's airspace and to use the country's airports. About 40 percent of all cargo destined for the NATO mission in Afghanistan pass through Baku. In addition, Azerbaijan has for many years participated in peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Kosovo.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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