MoD: Azerbaijani soldiers guarding Kabul airport
By Vafa Ismayilova
Baku has stated that the Azerbaijani army's 120-member peacekeeping unit continue guarding the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
In a statement posted on its website on August 15, the Defence Ministry said that the Azerbaijani peacekeeping unit along with forces of brotherly Turkey continues to carry out its official duties to ensure the security of the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan.
“The ministry is in constant contact with our peacekeepers, the moral and psychological state of the personnel is at a high level. The operational situation is being closely monitored in coordination with brotherly Turkey,” the ministry said.
In a separate report, the ministry ruled out any thret to lives of the country's peacekeeping personnel.
There is currently no tension in the sector of Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport guarded by Azerbaijani peacekeepers, the ministry said.
“Despite the tense situation in the region, the 120-man peacekeeping unit of the Azerbaijani army continues to perform its duties together with the Turkish forces to ensure the security of the airport,” added the ministry.
In the meantime, Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva has said that there are no Azerbaijani civilians are currently present in Afghanistan.
Abdullayeva reminded that in accordance with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s order dated July 28, 2021, Ilham Mammadov was appointed the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Afghanistan.
"After the appointment, the ambassador to Afghanistan hasn’t yet left. As for the civilians of Azerbaijan in this country, they are currently not there. Azerbaijani peacekeepers continue their service in Afghanistan," she added.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani and Turkish foreign ministers discussed the current regional situation in a telephone conversation, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported on August 16.
They focused on the agenda of bilateral cooperation, joint activities of the Turkish and Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Afghanistan and the current state of their mission.
The Taliban armed group retook power in Afghanistan 20 years after it was toppled by the USA. The collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul came in the wake of Taliban blitzkrieg that began on August 6 and led to the capture of more than two dozen Afghan provinces by the morning of August 15.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz