Hungary sends reinforcements to Afghanistan

BUDAPEST (AFP) Jul 27, 2004
Hungary sent 74 soldiers to Afghanistan on Tuesday to reinforce its contingent with NATO's 6,500-strong International Security Assistance Force and intends to send 51 more, the head of the army's reconnaissance section said.

The reinforcements, in line with a decision to increase ISAF taken at last month's NATO summit in Istanbul, will take the Hungarian contribution to 156 soldiers, reconnaissance chief Andras Szucs said.

Hungarian army chief of staff Zoltan Szenes, quoted by the MTI news agency, said "it is particularly important to guarantee the safety of voters" in the presidential election scheduled to take place in Afghanistan in October.

Last month Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs said that the job of the Hungarian troops would be to "boost security by providing reconnaissance in Kabul and its surroundings, including Kabul international airport."

Earlier Tuesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Hungary while on a visit here to remain part of the increasingly shaky coalition of occupation forces in Iraq, where it also has about 300 troops in the US-led coalition.

"Your troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing a terrific job," he told the state-run Hungarian television station MTV after he arrived in Budapest at the start of a tour of six European and Middle Eastern countries.

WAR.WIRE