Special Edition
Army Engineers from Kazakhstan Destroy More Than 1,000,000 Explosives in Iraq, Eager to Continue Work
Army engineers from Kazakhstan, in Iraq as part of the International Coalition Forces since August 2003, have so far destroyed more than 1,000,000 explosive units of various kinds by late January and are working hard to do more.
Army Gen. Mukhtar Altynbayev,
the Defense Minister of Kazakhstan,
said: "This mission has given our
servicemen immense real action
experience, and it is necessary to
continue sending our troops abroad
as part of peacekeeping missions."
The General was speaking at a
ceremony at the Almaty airport
welcoming back a portion of
Kazakhstan's contingent as troops
were rotating after the initial
six-month term neared its
conclusion. The troops arrived in
Almaty in a USAF C-130
cargo aircraft on January 30.
In Iraq, they are engaged in destroying mines, unexploded shells and other ammunition and providing clean drinking water for the Iraqi people close to the city of Al Kut in western Iraq. According to Kazakhstan's defense officials, the engineers, among other things, removed all the mines and explosives in a nearby town of Assuar, and received praise from commanders of the international Polish-led division.
After the rotation is complete in early February, Kazakhstan will maintain its team of 27 volunteer army engineers in Iraq.
First Lt. Samat Mukhanov, who commanded a group working on water and returned last Friday, said he put his life on the line in Iraq because he was a patriot of his motherland and his mission helped raise respect for Kazakhstan around the world.
Sgt. Serik Kaldibayev, who also returned on Friday, responded to a reporter's question whether he was scared to go to Iraq by laughing first and then saying: "If I had been afraid, I wouldn't have gone there. Psychologically, it was difficult because we had to spend half a year in a foreign country, away from our relatives and friends."
He added, jokingly: "We were given
food four times a day, the food was
great, almost as good as in a
restaurant. It's a pity then that we'll
have to break out of this habit now."
Kazakhstan's troops in Iraq come from
Kazbat, a peacekeeping battalion
established in the late 1990s to perform peacekeeping duties abroad.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
of Kazakhstan made a decision
to send troops to help stabilize
Iraq in the spring of 2003. This
decision was authorized in May of last year by the nation's Parliament, and, after a preparatory period, the troops went to Iraq in August 2003.
Kazakhstan is the only country in Central Asia that sent troops to Iraq following the U.S.-led Operation Iraqi Freedom last spring, and it is one of the very few Muslim-majority nations to do so.
____________________________________________________________
News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agenciy reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
