Georgian soldiers to leave Afghanistan as NATO begins withdrawing forces after two decades
Georgia has been one of the key contributors to NATO peace missions in Afghanistan since 2004. Photo:dead district/Twitter.
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860 Georgian soldiers will start leaving Afghanistan in May as the US and NATO will begin withdrawing their troops from the country after two decades of war.
NATO allies agreed on Wednesday, according to US plans, to start removing troops by May 1.
The pull-out is to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US by jihadist organization al-Qaida.
The US invaded Afghanistan just after the deadly attack.
It is time to end America's longest war,” US President Joe Biden stated, adding that the US will support Afghanistan following the withdrawal, but not with military means or resources.
#NATO Allies have decided to start withdrawing @ResoluteSupport forces in #Afghanistan by 1 May, in an orderly, coordinated & deliberate way. We will continue to stand with Afghanistan, this marks a new chapter in our relationship.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) April 14, 2021
Ministerial statement: https://t.co/1c9Y89zJZX pic.twitter.com/L4yIAXMgto
There are currently about 10,000 soldiers still left in Afghanistan for NATO Resolute Support Mission (2,500 American soldiers among them), including Georgian soldiers.
If the Taliban decides to attack any NATO troops during the withdrawal process, they ‘will be met with a forceful response,’ the alliance has said.
The US and the Taliban signed an ‘agreement to bring peace’ to Afghanistan back in February 2020.
The US and NATO allies agreed then to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants upheld the deal.
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili has stated that the country has been the biggest, non-member contributor to NATO peace missions in Afghanistan since 2004.
Following @NATO's decision allied forces will be leaving ????????. ???????? troops have served for the sake of global security & the peaceful future of the Afghan ppl along w/ our allies & partners for almost two decades. We welcome our militaries back home & praying for the fallen soldiers.
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) April 14, 2021
Garibashvili said that the withdrawal of Georgian troops will take place in coordination with NATO and the US.
The Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan was launched in 2015 and involved more than 16,000 personnel from nearly 40 NATO member and partner countries.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has tweeted:
For 17 years, Georgian troops have stood side by side with our American and @NATO partners in Afghanistan. Together, we worked to bring peace to the Afghan people, order in a complex region, and security across the globe.
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) April 14, 2021
The mission was launched after the stand down of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission.
ISAF, which was launched in 2001, aimed to enable the Afghan government to exercise its authority throughout the country, while the RSM mission served to train, advise and assist Afghan defence and security forces and support them through funding.
Thirty-two Georgian soldiers have been killed and dozens injured since the beg NATO-led peace missions in Afghanistan.
Georgian soldiers from the III infantry brigade have been recognized for their service in Nato’s Resolute Support mission in northern Afghanistan, receiving awards for exemplary service from the Multinational Battalion commander and Lieutenant Colonel Wolfgang Schroeder.
A company-sized unit of Georgian peacekeepers returned from the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan earlier today after serving in a six-month deployment in Kabul alongside their NATO partners.
A company-sized unit of Georgian peacekeeping forces has arrived in Afghanistan to replace their colleagues for the next round of effort in NATO mission in the country.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has attended the certification exercise for the Georgia Deployment Program – Resolute Support Mission (GDP-RSM), conducted by Georgian and American troops, where she stated that Georgia is not only committed to supporting NATO, but that it can train and certify its own defence units for these missions.
One hundred Georgian soldiers from the third infantry brigade have already left Afghanistan and returned to Georgia as the US and NATO have begun withdrawing their troops from the country after two decades of war.
The last remaining Georgian troops in NATO's Resolute Support peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan began their drawdown on Monday, with the 32nd Battalion of the Georgian Defence Forces set to return to the homeland in phases.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry and the administration of the government of Georgia are working in coordination to ensure the safe return of several Georgian citizens who are now in Afghanistan, after the Taliban seized control of Kabul yesterday and crowds are trying to flee the country. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the Georgian citizens, who were contract employees in Afghanistan, contacted them yesterday and ‘we have instantly begun taking actions to help them.’
The joint statement of 25 European Union member states and more than 40 other countries calls for ‘the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country’ amid the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
The last sixteen Georgian citizens remaining in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul on August 15, arrived in Tbilisi earlier today after their evacuation from Kabul on August 20. Deputy Head of the Administration of the Government of Georgia Revaz Javelidze and Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili were waiting for them at Tbilisi international airport. Javelidze said that the evacuation process of Georgian citizens from Afghanistan ‘was very complicated’ and it was made possible thanks to the support of the US, UK, Turkey and Hungary.
Tbilisi International Airport is being used as a way station by evacuation flights of the NATO Military Transportation Organisation, which is running daily flights to Kabul and back, the Georgian government reports. "From Tbilisi, passengers evacuated from Kabul are being transported abroad via various charter flights. Up to 2,000 individuals have been evacuated so far via Georgian territory,” said the statement.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva has sent a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in which she offers 'deepest gratitude' on behalf of the IMF and its staff for Georgia's assistance in the 'safe and swift' evacuation of fund personnel and their families from Afghanistan.
Georgian President Salome Zurabshvili 'strongly condemns' the terrorist attack outside Kabul's airport in Afghanistan, where 13 US service members and at least 60 Afghans have been killed. Two bombing attacks took place in Kabul yesterday, reports the Pentagon and Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health.
United States Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said the US is ‘enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance’ for their evacuation efforts from Afghanistan, including Georgia.
Finland, Sweden and Norway have expressed their gratitude to Georgia for ensuring safe and swift transit for their citizens evacuated from Afghanistan via Tbilisi International Airport after the Taliban took control of Kabul in mid-August.