Russian Ministry of Emergencies Trains Afghan Minesweepers

Experts of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies are cooperating with their Spanish counterparts in training Afghan minesweepers at international minesweepers' humanitarian training courses in Madrid, Spain. As a Rosbalt correspondent has learnt at the Ministry's press service, the courses had been set up on the initiative of the Spanish Academy of Military Engineering in accordance with previous arrangements. As Deputy Commander of Russian National Emergency Corps Major-General Vladimir Vasilyev said, Russia had sent a team of experts to train the Afghan minesweepers. The financing is being taken care of by the Spanish side. 'Within the next three months we are planning to train two groups, 50 people in total,' he added. According to Vasilyev, the first such operation took place in 2001, when the Russian Ministry of Emergencies and the Spanish Military Academy trained 22 minesweepers for the Lebanese army. In the near future the Ministry is planning to open a similar training centre in Kabul, the project that has already been welcomed by the Afghan authorities.