Slovak troops will be assigned to a Special Operations Training Group (SOTG) unit as part of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan that will be partially funded by a financial contribution from the US, Defence Minister Martin Glváč said as quoted by the Sme daily.
So far, we had 24 soldiers in the area who trained and partially managed Afghan special units. This year their number will increase to the planned 35, Sme reported in its Wednesday, February 27 issue. The SOTG unit will be made up mostly of members of the Fifth Special Task Regiment in Žilina, with the maximum number of soldiers to be set at 150 next year, said Glváč as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the creation and training of the SOTG unit is in line with Slovakia's international commitments. The minister also emphasised that the United States will help Slovakia bear some of the costs with creating such a special unit. Analyst and Slovakia’s ex-ambassador to the US Rastislav Káčer considers the increase of our presence in the special units in Afghanistan a good step, according to Sme.
(Source: Sme, TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
