The Commander of the HDF 34TH ‘László Bercsényi’ Special Operations Battalion of Szolnok Colonel Tamás Sándor, took over command of the Special Operations Task Force, operating in several provinces of Afghanistan, from the Americans - the Defence Ministry told MTI on Tuesday, December 3.

The special operations Task Force operating in an area of around 18,000sq/km, consists of nearly 250 soldiers from Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and the US. The Hungarian contingent will head the unit for six months.

According to the press release of the Defence Ministry, the ceremonial handover staged on Monday was attended by Hungary’s Ambassador in Kabul, Antal Drágos, and the NATO forces’ outgoing special operations taskforce commander who praised the Hungarian special operations unit’s past achievements in his speech held before the personnel.

The Hungarian Defence Forces began the development of their special operational capability in 2005 on the base of the HDF 34TH ‘László Bercsényi’ Special Operations Battalion.

(Ministry of Defence)