PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- An additional 200 soldiers from the Czech Republic will join NATO forces in Afghanistan next year, the government announced Wednesday in Prague.
The Chamber of Deputies approved the additional deployment to supplement some 520 Czech troops now in the mission, the CTK news agency reported. The government also committed an aircraft to next year's mission, but said troop numbers would be reduced by 80 in 2012.
The decision to join the fight against Taliban and al-Qaida extremists was criticized by Communist Party deputy Alexandr Cerny, who said the allies "behave in Afghanistan as modern colonizers," the report said.
However, Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra said the involvement was part of maintaining the country's "foreign political interests."
Czech troops are involved in reconstruction efforts, training police and military, providing a helicopter unit and staffing by chemical warfare specialists and meteorologists at Kabul airport, the agency said.
