Poland to send 100 more soldiers to Afghanistan

A group of 100 Polish soldiers will begin leaving for Afghanistan on March 15. Two regiments of mine and bomb disarmament engineers and logistics specialists are awaiting departure orders. According to Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski, a spokesperson at General Headquarters, the soldiers will take with them heavy engineering machinery for bomb and mine detection and disarmament as well as army vehicles. The soldiers will cooperate with troops already stationed in Afghanistan, providing them with water and clearing the surrounding areas. Colonel Gnatowski dismissed as "speculation" Rzeczpospolita's hints that the elite task force GROM will be moved to take part in a Gulf-based operation. (Zycie, March 9-10, p. 5) M.T.K.