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Bosnia approves sending troops to Afghanistan

Bosnia's collective presidency agreed on Wednesday to send an infantry unit to join the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan as part of the Danish contingent, an official statement said. Sending troops to Afghanistan was one of the conditions NATO placed on Bosnia's application to join the alliance's Membership Action Plan (MAP), on which Sarajevo is hoping for approval when NATO foreign ministers meet in Tallinn on April 22.

 

The deployment decision had been delayed by disagreement among Serb, Muslim and Croat presidency members about which national contingent of the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Bosnia should join. The Balkan country seconded 10 army officers to the Danish and German contingents in Afghanistan in 2009. The presidency's statement has not specified the number of the troops to be deployed or the date of their departure. (Reuters)

 

Defence Minister Selmo Cikotic told Reuters in December that a unit slated for Afghanistan would have up to 100 soldiers.

 

NATO declined Bosnia's application for MAP that month, saying the country needed more democratic reforms and a more effective military.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.14.10, 20:35