Czech Republic offers to train Afghan helicopter pilots

The Czech Republic has offered to train helicopter pilots from Afghanistan. The chief of staff of the Czech Army, Vlastimil Picek, made the offer at a NATO military committee meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the website iDnes reported. However, no concrete date for any such training programme has been set. The Czech Republic is planning to increase its military presence in Afghanistan from 224 soldiers to 415, with a provincial reconstruction team due to be sent to the war-torn state in spring of next year.