Georgian Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
Junior Sergeant Mdinari Bebiashvili from the 23rd infantry Battalion, was killed while on patrol near the Bagram Air Field, Georgian Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.
Mdinari Bebiashvili (b. 1991) is the second Georgian soldier to have died since 2015 while serving in the Resolute Support mission, bringing the total number of Georgia’s Afghanistan death toll to 32.
Three other Georgian serviceman – Captain Mikheil Gvirjishvili, Senior Lieutenant Giga Khakhutashvili and Corporal Gela Kharshiladze, were wounded, with Gvirjishvili’s health condition “stable, but critical.”
The Resolute Support mission’s public affairs office said on August 3 that one soldier was killed and six personnel (five troops and one interpreter) were wounded when their patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber in Qarabagh District, Kabul Province.
“The Patrol was conducting a partnered mission with the Afghan National Army when a personnel-borne IED (improvised explosive device) detonated,” the statement said.
One RS Soldier killed and 6 personnel (5 troops & 1 interpreter) wounded Thursday night when their patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber. pic.twitter.com/9l60Rl1fjG
— Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) August 3, 2017
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze and Defense Minister Levan Izoria have expressed their condolences to the family of Mdinari Bebiashvili. Ian Kelly, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, voiced his condolences in a telephone conversation with Levan Izoria. John Nicolson, Commander of the Resolute Support mission, expressed his condolences as well.
According to the Defense Ministry, Junior Sergeant Mdinari Bebiashvili served in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in 2012 and 2014. He has received a medal for “Participating in Peacekeeping Operations.”
With 870 soldiers Georgia is the fourth largest troop contributor to NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. The Georgian troops, whose duties focus on security and rapid reaction force, are deployed in Kabul; Bagram Air Field; and at the German army’s Camp Marmal in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The country was the largest non-NATO troop contributor to the ISAF mission which came to an end in December 2014.
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