Romanians in Afghanistan

The participation of Romanian military in Afghanistan, as part of the International Assistance Force for Afghanistan, ISAF, is coming to an end.

România Internațional, 03.02.2014, 13:20

The 20th “Black Scorpions” Infantry Battalion from Dolj County in southern Romania on Sunday left on the last mission of the Romanian troops in Afghanistan. Attending the ceremony, the defence minister, Mircea Dusa, has mentioned the rich experience accumulated by the Romanian troops in theatres of operation in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq, where they showed professionalism and determination. Dusa has called on the “Black Scorpions” to make sustained efforts, during this mission, too, to cooperate at en excellent level with the Afghan National Security Forces, which will take over control and assure a stable security environment, to favour Afghanistan’s economic and institutional development.

The Romanian military will maintain security and stability in their designated area, namely a segment of the A1 Highway in the southern province of Zabul, considered to be a stronghold of Islamist insurgents and consequently one of the most dangerous areas in Afghanistan. The Romanian troops will also assure the international coalition forces’ freedom of movement. At the end of their six-month mission, the “Black Scorpions” will also take charge of repatriating Romanian military equipment from Afghanistan.

At present, some 1,014 Romanian military are deployed in that country. During 12 years of operations carried out in Afghanistan, 23 Romanian military were killed in the line of duty and over 100 others were wounded. At the end of the year, NATO is expected to close down its military campaign in that country, the longest since the setting up of the alliance. NATO member states, among which Romania, intend to remain in Afghanistan after the completion of their current mission. Romanian authorities last week reconfirmed the decision during the visit to Bucharest by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the US General Phillip Breedlove.

The US military official said he was impressed by Romania’s contribution to all NATO missions, as well as part of KFOR in Kosovo, in such operations as “Active Endeavour” against terrorism or “Ocean Shield” against sea piracy, and most importantly as part of ISAF in Afghanistan.

Under a Romanian-US agreement signed in 2013, the air base in Kogalniceanu, south-eastern Romania, will be used as a logistics hub for flying US troops and equipment out of Afghanistan and back to the United States. Before this document was signed, the US had used a military base in Kargastan, for its military missions in Afghanistan, but it ceased to use it mainly due to tensions in the area.