Dr. Csaba Hende Visited Afghanistan

During the talks conducted with the Commander of NTM-A, it came to light that the US General, who knew well the preparedness and the activities of the soldiers, had a very high opinion of the Hungarian service-members’ professional task-execution and sense of vocation.

The members of the delegation first travelled to Kabul, where they met the contingents of the HDF Special Operations Group (SOG) taking part in the Hungarian–US joint operations, with the HDF Logistic Mentor Team (LMT) providing logistic training, and the HDF Air Advisory Team (AAT). The contingent of the latter unit is tasked with providing helicopter (further) training for the Afghan soldiers fighting with the Taliban, and besides they also perform operational tasks with limitations.

From Mazar-e Sharif the delegation continued its journey by US MRAP MaxxPro vehicles on the main road to Pol-eKhomri. There, in the camp of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) the commander of the HUN PRT-11 Col. Dr. Romulusz Ruszin received the delegation, and then the Minister of Defence greeted the troops. The Commander reported on the tasks executed in the past period.

On the third day the delegation visited the Governor of Baghlan Province, Mr. Munsi Abdul Majeed, and inspected the observation post, the so called OP WEST, which is of priority importance in respect of the camp’s security. After returning to the camp, a staff meeting was held, where Dr. Csaba Hende thanked the Contingent of the HUN PRT-11 for their readiness to make sacrifices, and wished them strength and perseverance to the further performance of their duties.

In what followed the service-members of the HUN PRT accompanied the delegation to Khilagay, where a meeting took place with the Hungarian troops of the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT) who provide training and mentoring for the Afghan soldiers. It became manifest from the report that the Hungarian OMLT has recently carried out a successful operation in an area which neither the Soviet, nor the Taliban forces were able to occupy or bring under their control earlier. According to the report the weapons and the ammunition found in the area were destroyed by the Afghan and the Hungarian troops.

The members of the ministerial delegation paid tribute to the memory of the Hungarian heroes at the Heroes’ Wall, and lit a candle in honour of the Hungarian soldiers who fell in Afghanistan. The delegation had the opportunity to meet with the contingent of the National Support Element (NSE) and with the soldiers serving in individual staff positions on the very same day.

The entourage of the Minister of Defence on his visit – throughout of which a close protection team was provided by Hungarian soldiers – included MP Gábor Tóth, Maj. Gen. László Domján, the Commander of the HDF JFC, Péter Siklósi, the MoD Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy, and the Head of the MoD Cabinet Office Dr. Gábor Szarka.