Around 25 containers of military materiel will be transported back to Hungary with the withdrawal of the Hungarian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) from Afghanistan – the Ministry of Defence informed Hungarian News Agency MTI in a press release on Sunday.
At a ceremony held in Camp Pannonia, Maj.-Gen. László Domján, the commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces Joint Force Command (HDF JFC) announced that the contingent of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) would complete its operational tasks in early March. He stressed that the handover of the camp to the Afghan partners had started and would be finished at the end of March. (Reporting from the spot.)
On Friday, February 15 on the range of Khilagay, the EOD technicians serving with the 13th rotation of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) destroyed by blasting a truckload of expired ammunition which was unfit for airlift. (Report from the spot).
The Hungarian–US Military Advisory Team (MAT) finished its last joint operation with the Afghan National Army (ANA) on February 14. During the three-day patrol, the around 180 Hungarian, US and Afghan soldiers and policemen combed four valleys where – according to intelligence – groups of insurgents and gunmen were reported to be hiding. (Report from the spot)
The HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) recently distributed humanitarian aid packages for the last time in Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. The Hungarian troops will soon finish their development projects and their six-and-a-half-year mission abroad.
The official negotiations on handing over Camp Pannonia in Pol-e Khomri, Afghanistan have started on January 23. “We have reached another stage in handing over responsibility for security, which is nothing else but the fourth phase of transition”, Commander Col. Antal Sipos stressed at the press conference.
Time flies so fast – which is evidenced by the fact that it passed in what seemed a blink of an eye from signing the last pages of the handover-takeover documentation between the AMT-7 and the AMT-8 to the rush in the AMT-8 mission…(Reporting from Kabul).
Objectively determining the progress of time is relatively simple. We are able to track each second of our modern age with almost insolent precision. But no atomic clocks can make us feel the subjective, human aspect of the passing of time.
The commander of the 13th rotation of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT-13) handed over computers, printers and generators among other things to the commander of a corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA) on January 13.
If there is such a request, Hungary stands ready to continue its presence in Afghanistan after 2014, the end of the mandate of NATO’s current mission, President of Hungary János Áder said after his discussions with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in the NATO Headquarters, Brussels on Thursday, January 17. The NATO Secretary General called Hungary “a dependable ally”.
As from January 15, Col. Tamás Sándor, the commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces Special Operations Contingent fills the position of deputy chief of staff for operations and intelligence at the headquarters of Task Force 10, which directs the special operations forces (SOF) units in Afghanistan.
December 2012 and January 2013 are the “period of donation” for the 13th rotation of the Hungarian Defence Forces Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT-13). This is the period when the local Afghan people most in need of help urgently require the donations sent by aid organizations and all other forms of support. Report form Afghanistan.
You have demonstrated the professionalism and persistence of the Hungarian Defence Forces– this was how Tamás Vargha, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence welcomed the troops returning from the Afghanistan missions in Szentes on January 9.
Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said Hungary's military had been able to "maintain its capabilities" in 2012 amid limited financial possibilities.
The exceptional skills of Hungarian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have earned great respect for the nation, President János Áder said during a visit to Kabul.
Hungarian soldiers were attacked in Afghanistan last Saturday in the area of Khilagay, however, nobody was hurt. 21 soldiers from the Hungarian-American Military Advisory Group as well as two battalions from the Afghan National Army (ANA) were included in the conflict. During the firefight, the Hungarian-American Military Advisory Group was supported by air forces.
The Hungarian Defence Forces Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) deployed in Afghanistan has ended its current mission.
Afghan troops have increasingly higher professional standards, which reflects credit on their Hungarian mentors too.
On Friday, December 7 at dawn eight light armored personnel carrier (APC) BTRs were airlifted to Hungary – Col. József Nyers, the commander of the National Support Element in Mazar-e Sharif informed the special correspondent of Hungarian News Agency MTI.
The Hungarian Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) has started withdrawing from Afghanistan; the development projects will be terminated and certain pieces of military equipment will be moved back home – Col. Antal Sipos, the commander of the last PRT told the special correspondent of Hungarian News Agency MTI in Camp Pannonia, the base of the HUN PRT on Wednesday, December 5.
The first Special Operations Contingent of the Hungarian Defence Forces has started working in Afghanistan – Col. Tamás Sándor, the commander of the unit told the Kabul-based special correspondent of Hungarian News Agency MTI by phone on Tuesday, December 4.
“Afghan civilians like Hungarian soldiers the most, and the soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) like to work with them the most too”, Lt.-Col. Mohammad Salim Ahmadi (ANA) stated on Monday, December 3 in an interview given to the special correspondent of Hungarian News Agency MTI.
The Hungarian soldiers serving with the Force Protection Group at Kabul International Airport (KAIA) have an ever-expanding workload. The preparations for the 2014 withdrawal are already under way, and in consequence there has recently been a significant increase in the traffic at the airport of the Afghan capital, Col. László Benda, the Force Protection Group Commander of the Kabul International Airport told Hungarian News Agency MTI in an interview on Saturday, December 1.
The most important operational role of the Hungarian Defence Forces is the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan. Therefore, to ensure appropriate information on this mission, a new webpage called “Hungary in Afghanistan” was launched in November 2012 on the Hungarian Government’s website. This webpage offers visitors news updates, background information, videos and photos on the activities of Hungarian troops in the mission.
In spite of the heavy workload, the soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces are doing a good job in Afghanistan – Gen. Tibor Benkő told Hungarian News Agency MTI on Friday, November 23 after returning from his visit to the Central Asian country.
On October 30 in the morning, Hungarian Minister of Defence Csaba Hende met with Ray Mabus, the US Secretary of Navy – who is on a visit to Hungary – at a bilateral discussion.
Col. Antal Sipos, the commander of the 13th rotation of the Hungarian Defence Forces Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT-13) handed over the building of the Economic Office to the town of Pol-e Khomri in the presence of Mohammad Sultan Ebadi, the governor of Baghlan Province on October 22.
Next year the number of Hungarian troops serving in Afghanistan will be reduced significantly, Hungarian Minister of Defence Csaba Hende told journalists on Wednesday, October 10 in Brussels after the NATO Defence Ministers reviewed the process of transition in Afghanistan at their meeting.
„The takeover of force protection tasks at the Kabul International Airport (KAIA) took place in order on Monday, October 1, and the soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces will perform their duties there for six months”, Chief of Defence Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő said at a press conference in Budapest.
On Tuesday, 18 September the United States Department of Defense issued a news release regarding Hungarian Defense Minister Csaba Hende’s visit to Washington DC. The news release praises Hungary’s role in Afghanistan and the bilateral defense cooperation, with special regard to the upcoming 20th anniversary of the State Partnership Program between the Hungarian Defense Forces and the Ohio National Guard.
Some 300 Hungarian soldiers will leave for Afghanistan to serve at Kabul airport, in a provincial reconstruction team, an air training command team and an air advisory team from September, Defence Minister Csaba Hende said on Monday.