New facilities will serve to hundreds of Afghan soldiers in Logar

Jul 21, 2011

A significant progress in Afghan National Army´s operational capacity was made in the southern part of Logar. New kitchen, dining hall and first-aid station were built in Altimur base of ANA´s 1st Kandak during a Czech PRT´s project. So far, upon improvement by project, the conditions were too hard especially for injured and ill soldiers. “We had just a tent with two field beds as a first-aid station. Another tent was serving as a dining hall,” said Lt. Col. Turyalai, head of the 1st Kandak.

His unit is on the level of battalion, so there are about 700 soldiers under his command. The new emergency station will serve mainly for their treatment and rest. “Injured soldiers will be still transported to the neighboring Paktia province for difficult operations. But this new building will help us a lot, because the capacity is higher and the conditions much better,” said Turyalai. “Since the end of the project, we have had nine beds, which are enough. But we lack qualified doctors. There are only two serving for the Kandak,” he said.

In Altimur a new headquarters is currently under construction. As the other facilities, it was originally based in several tents. „Local conditions have not been suitable for coordination of  difficult operations, the old headquarters is not equipped for work at night or with maps,“ said František Kříž, the security officer of Czech PRT.

This project is only one of many supporting Afghan National Security Forces. „It is an essential part of our overall strategy. PRT´s civilian part is working on improvement of the working and living conditions for Afghan soldiers and policemen, and the military part of PRT  arranges their training at the same time. We realize that the quality of army and police will be a key factor during the transition, which has been already ongoing in some provinces. Therefore the importance of support to security forces is increasing,“ said Petr Svačina, head of civilian PRT.

During 2009 Czech PRT also renovated some parts of the Malalai Maiwand base, which is the main ANA´s hub in the province. In the area of support to the Afghan National Police seven new checkpoints were built and other two are currently under the construction. The other ongoing projects include security walls, equipment and training center..