YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS: A new 55-people contingent of the Armenian peacekeepers of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia will leave for Afghanistan. The Commander of the Peacekeeping Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, the Major-General Arthur Simonyan informed Armenpress about that stating that the new contingent will leave for Germany for training and in mid December the Armenian peacekeepers will leave for Afghanistan to protect the Airport of Mazar-i-Sharif. “On November 16 the drivers will leave for Germany and on November 22 – the main group”, - said Arthur Simonyan.

The Defense Ministry of the Republic of Armenia has been discussing the issue of including the Armenian peacekeeping detachment in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Currently the negotiations on including the Armenian detachment in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are held with the Italian Defense Ministry and the UN on the structure of the detachment, location, issues, technical supply and other issues. Since 2012 one officer of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia has been included in the UN observation mission in Lebanon.

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia have been participating in the international peacekeeping missions since 2004. The troops of the Armenian peacekeepers (41 people), which has been carrying out their mission since 2010, continue the implementation of their task at the Kunduz Airport. The other group of soldiers (81 people) was deployed at the North Regional Command Headquarters, which is located in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The troops are responsible for the security of the Airport of Mazar-i-Sharif. Another five Armenian officers serve as instructors. Earlier they served under the Greek command, but when Greece withdrew its contingent from Kosovo, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the American party in 2012 on the re-launch of the Armenian peacekeepers’ mission. Before leaving for Afghanistan, the Armenian peacekeepers undergo preliminary trainings in Germany.