The Minister of National Defence, Mircea Dusa, the chief of General Staff, Lieutenant-General Stefan Danila, the chief of Land Forces Staff Lieutenant-General Sorin Ioan and the general director of the General Directorate for Defence Intelligence, Lieutenant-General Ilie Botos participated in the ceremony organized for the return of the Romanian Special Operations Forces Task Group, at the headquarters of the Vulturii Special Operations Battalion, on Tuesday, 8 January.

'You carried out missions in a highly complex and dangerous environment, shoulder to shoulder with our allies in Afghanistan. I am proud of your achievements and I wish you a heartfelt ', defence minister Mircea Dusa told the troops that came back from Afghanistan.

Minister Mircea Dusa thanked the troops' families for the achievements and praised the conduct of the detachment commander.

'I thank the family members who bore the burden of loneliness and made efforts during the time their spouses or children were away in Afghanistan, lest the soldiers be worried and be able to focus on their missions, minister Dusa added.

For over seven months, the troops of the Romanian special operations forces carried out military assistance missions for the benefit of the Afghan security forces and other specific special ops missions aimed at neutralizing insurgent groups operating in Eastern Afghanistan.

The detachment members were awarded many decorations for their deeds, by Romanian and American authorities, whereas an NCO was awarded the National Medal for Merit, 3rd class, with war insignia.

MoND Press Office