Georgian soldiers killed in Afghanistan

22 Feb 2012, 7:38 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Three soldiers killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan were from the nation of Georgia.

Three Georgian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan while serving alongside NATO-led forces fighting the Taliban, the defence ministry in Tbilisi says.

"The Georgian military servicemen died while they were carrying out combat tasks. Their combat vehicle exploded following an insurgent attack," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement said that the three corporals, named as Valiko Beraia, Ruslan Meladze and Paata Kacharava, died in the volatile Helmand province.

Their deaths take the total number of Georgian troops killed in Afghanistan to 15.

"This is a very painful blow for me especially after my recent visit to Afghanistan, where I saw how bravely they were fulfilling extremely risky tasks," Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a statement.

Saakashvili met troops in Helmand province on Monday and told them that the experience they were gaining was strengthening the army at a time when "our enemy has occupied a part of our homeland" - a reference to the presence of Russian troops in Georgia's rebel provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Ex-Soviet Georgia is a staunch ally of the United States with ambitions to join NATO and has more than 900 troops serving in Afghanistan - a major contribution from a small country of 4.4 million people.

Tbilisi's NATO aspirations have infuriated neighbour Russia, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008.

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