Another Albanian army contingent leaves for Afghanistan

TIRANA, Jan. 18 – Albania sent another army contingent to Afghanistan last Friday.
The 112-troop contingent left amid a ceremony held in the army base in Zall Herr.
Albania sends regular six-month contingents to Afghanistan originally under Turkish command and now under an Italian command.
The new 112-troop company will serve in Herat. That is Albania’s second peacekeeping mission in NATO. “The period when you will serve coincides with a very meaningful moment: in April this year the NATO summit will be held in Bucharest from where we expect with optimism to be offered a membership invitation to this organization of peace and international security,” said Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu. Albania, a small, predominantly Muslim nation on the Adriatic, hopes to join NATO next year. Albania has also deployed a unit of 120 troops to Iraq and a 70-troop peacekeeping contingent to Bosnia. (Tirana Times Staff)