January 7, troops of Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team of Ghor (PRT-14) and the Afghan National Army (ANA) conducted a joint patrol to the village of Cegey located 25 kilometers away from Chaghcharan. They installed a mobile control post halfway between Chaghcharan and Cegay and delivered humanitarian assistance to villagers.
In Cegay PRT and ANA personnel met with the senior of the village for a discussion over the security situation in the settlement. ANA troops told the villagers about the general security situation in Ghor, activities of ANA and the Afghan National Police, asked some questions about insurgent activities that might be undertaken in the village and surrounding territory. Later commander and personnel of the ANA Company distributed warm clothes and toys for local families.
According to Lt Col Ričardas Stakelis, commander of the Mentoring Team deployed with the PRT to provide training for ANA personnel in Ghor, such collective patrols are absolutely useful both for the PRT and ANA troops: locals need to have visible evidence that Afghan military are ready to ensure security in the province and have Lithuanian peacekeepers only as auxiliary force that provide mentoring and training.
ANA Mentoring Team includes an array of military training instructors from across the Lithuanian Armed Forces, they share their experience and knowledge with members of local Afghan forces. Lithuania's main focus coincides with the transition process - local troops are taught to complete operations independently without the assistance from NATO forces.
The ANA Company has been deployed in Ghor since January 2011. It comprises maneuver units, a support element, and EOD team, 100 members in total. The unit is deployed in the province of Ghor along with the elements of the Afghan National Police to ensure stable security environment in the province on their own.
At the moment the 14th rotation of Lithuanians serves in Ghor. The shift is formed by the 5th Territorial Unit of the Vytis Military District of the National Defence Volunteer Forces. Military contingent of PRT-14 is commanded by Col Eligijus Senulis, Commander of the 5th Territorial Unit of the Vytis Military District of the National Defence Volunteer Forces.
Lithuanian-led PRT in Ghor is a joint civilian and military mission, a part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), launched in the province in summer of 2005. The essential task of the mission is to support Afghan government in extending its authority in the province, ensuring security and creating conditions for provincial reconstruction. Staff of the Lithuanian-led PRT in Chaghcharan includes Georgia's, Japan's, US, Poland's, Finland's, and Ukraine's representatives alongside Lithuanian military and civilian personnel.
On the 4th of January, 2012, the town of Chaghcharan and the surrounding area were approved to joint the transfer of responsibility process in Chaghcharan. Responsibility of local security forces, i.e. ANA units and police, for the security in their country is gradually increased since then. The key role of Lithuanian-led Chaghcharan PRT is training of the Afghan National Security Forces with a focus on instructions.
The implementation of the transfer of responsibility onto local forces before the end of 2014 was endorsed at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010 with attendance President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. The process began in spring of 2011 is gaining pace. On 27 January 2011 President of Afghanistan announced that a part of Ghor province protected by Lithuanian-led Chaghcharan PRT, the town of Chaghcharan and surrounding area, was approved for the second phase of the process. The rest of the province is expected to be approved in the third phase in 2012. There are expectations that the province will be ready for full transfer onto Afghan responsibility within a period of one or two years.
Currently there are approximately 260 Lithuanian troops stationed in Afghanistan. They serve in the Regional Command West of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), in the province of Ghor, NATO headquarters in Kabul and Heart, in Kandahar Airport, and the NATO mission in the south of Afghanistan.
Release by: PIO for PRT-14 1st Lt. Tomas Pakalniškis
Photos by Sgt 1st Class Raimondas Sleževičius
