A new batch of Macedonian army contingent left for Afghanistan on Wednesday to take part in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission on the ground.
The fourth rotation of the mission is composed of 127 members of Macedonia's First Mechanized Infantry Brigade and three officers, news reaching here from Skopje reported.
The Macedonian peacekeepers, under the command of the British army, will take part in providing security to the ISAF command in Kabul, patrolling streets and guarding military bases and facilities.
"Our detachment has the honor to be part of the mission in the year when Macedonia is expecting NATO membership invitation at the upcoming Bucharest summit, and we will do our best to complete our mission ahead of us," Goran Pertusevski, commander of the contingent said at the sendoff ceremony.
Macedonia has been longing to join NATO for years. It signed the Adriatic Charter with the United States along with Croatia and Albania in 2003 in order to facilitate its entry into the alliance.
Macedonia is taking part in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and the US-led coalition forces in Iraq. It also has soldiers serving in the EU-led mission in Bosnia.
A total of 205 of its soldiers and officers are deployed abroad,130 in Afghanistan, 40 in Iraq, and with the rest in Bosnia.
Source:Xinhua
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