WARSAW (AFP) — Polish Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said Thursday he had asked for government approval to keep 1,200 Polish soldiers in Afghanistan deployed there into 2008.
The PAP news agency said he made the announcement during a visit to Kabul.
The Polish force in Afghanistan operates under NATO's 36,000-strong International Security Assistance Force and handle security in the southeast Ghazni and Patika provinces.
Their elite units are also stationed in Kandahar in the south of the country.
According to a June poll, 78 percent of Poles disapprove of Poland's continued military role in ISAF, while 17 percent are against and five percent had no opinion.
A 28-year-old lieutenant killed by a greande blast in August became the first Polish casualty in Afghanistan.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
