Belgian Army Completes 19 years of Operations in Afghanistan
The Belgian army is on its way to completing a nineteen-year presence in Afghanistan, the longest operation in its history, without any human loss due to hostilities, senior defense ministry officials said on Wednesday.
The operational mission of the last Belgian detachment still presents in Mazar-i-Sharif (northern Afghanistan) as part of NATO’s Resolute Support (RSM) mission ended on May 17.
The bulk of this contingent, provided by the 12th / 13th Battalion of the Spa Line, returned home four days later, said Defense Chief of Staff Major General Vincent Descheemaeker.
The last Belgian soldiers – the army has dispatched a team to the site to ensure the redeployment of its men and women as well as equipment – will “all return by mid-June”, he said during a report. press briefing in this garrison of the Ardennes Chasseurs, who provided the penultimate contingent, from November to April.
Belgium engaged militarily in Afghanistan in March 2002, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, which triggered the activation of article 5 of the founding treaty of NATO on collective defense.
End of Mission
The allies decided in April to end the RSM mission to train Afghan security forces and withdraw completely from Afghanistan by September 11, the date set by US President Joe Biden for the withdrawal of US troops. At the moment Peace negotiations between the Taliban and the government in Kabul stalled.
Meanwhile Taliban, stepping up offensove against Afghan Army position many provinces, including around Kabul.
After 2002, the Belgian presence gradually grew over the years to reach some 600 people at its peak, in the years 2010 to 2012, with the commitment of ground troops and F-16 fighter jets within the international security assistance force (ISAF), before gradually reducing to around seventy soldiers at the beginning of this year.
In total, the equivalent of 16,000 soldiers took part, one of which – a single case – made thirteen stays in Afghanistan, or 54 months of his life, explained the Chief of Defense (Chod), Admiral Michel Hofman. He put the total cost of these 19 years of engagement alongside the allies at “400 to 500 million euros”.
“We have not lost anyone due to the hostilities,” said the “boss” of the army, while recalling that a soldier had died of illness. It was Corporal Alexandre Carraro, belonging to the Chasseurs Ardennes, who died in August 2009 of bacterial meningitis while helping to secure Kabul airport.
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And yet Belgian soldiers frequently found themselves in dangerous situations, Admiral Hofman told reporters.
“The impact of the support provided by the forces of NATO and its partners, combined with that of the international community – including the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank and many NGOs from across the world – has been felt in socio-economic conditions and human rights in Afghanistan, where advances have been materialized, ”Ms. Dedonder said.
She stressed that the withdrawal of foreign forces does not mean “the end of our relationship with Afghanistan”, assuring that it will be “on the contrary the start of a new chapter”, under discussion within NATO.
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