Today there are 950 Georgian servicemen in Afghanistan, 150 of them in Kabul with a French garrison and 800 more with the US contingent in Helmand province, near the Pakistani border. Over the past two years 9 Georgian soldiers have died in Afghanistan.
One of them, Georgy Goguadze, was killed recently in combat with Taliban fighters in Helmand, held in the framework of an ISAF operation. Georgy, who voluntarily signed up with the Georgian Defence Ministry and went to Afghanistan in 2010, was gravely wounded and died in hospital.
According to the Georgian Defence Ministry, the family of the deceased will get all social benefits and compensations. The state will also pay for the funeral.
Another battalion of 600-650 soldiers is scheduled to go to Afghanistan soon, making the Georgian contingent the largest among the non-NATO participants in the campaign.Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively to VK
