Armenia to send its first group of peacekeepers to Afghanistan

YEREVAN, January 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The first contingent of 40 Armenian
peacekeepers will leave to Afghanistan on Saturday, the Defence Ministry
said.
Armenian Defence Minister Seiran Oganyan will attend the official
farewell ceremony.
The contingent is composed of a motorised infantry platoon of 36
troops, three liaison officers and a military medic. They will serve in a
German unit under NATO's Regional Command North and carry out a
peacekeeping mission within the International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) in Afghanistan.
The Armenian peacekeepers will guard the airport in Kunduz in northern
Afghanistan.
Prior to the mission, the Armenian troops underwent three-week
training in Germany.
The Armenian parliament voted for the participation in the
international peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan on December 8, 2009.

-o-zak/