Czech defence minister to share Afghan support plan with government

The Czech Defence Ministry has prepared a programme that is aimed at helping Afghans who worked with Czech soldiers during their mission in the country and to prevent them from being subject to retaliations from the advancing Taliban. What exactly the programme entails cannot be shared with the public for security reasons, but it will be brought up at the next government meeting, Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar told the Czech News Agency on Monday.

The statement was made by the defence minister after a meeting with President Miloš Zeman. In it, topics relating to the future of Afghanistan and to the fate of Afghans who worked with Czech soldiers were discussed. Both the Czech president and the prime minister have not welcomed the decision to withdraw NATO forces from Afghanistan at this time.

The Czech Republic sent its first soldiers to the NATO mission in Afghanistan in 2002. Fourteen Czech soldiers were killed during the NATO mission.