Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force Major General Almantas Leika conducting a visit in Afghanistan transferred the authority of PRT Military Contingent Commander from Col Artūras Radvilas to Col Linas Kubilius.
Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force thanked the outgoing 15th PRT rotation. "Each member of this rotation can be proud of himself and of what he has achieved during his or her service period in Ghor as part of the PRT mission. I wish you all a good journey home and luck in your future efforts," Maj Gen A.Leika said.
Land Force Commander wished to the personnel of the PRT-16, formed mainly by the 8th Territorial Unit of the Didžioji Kova Military District of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Force, to maintain the level of security and welfare reconstructed in the province of Ghor so far and to continue with the successful cooperation with local authority and security institutions.
"I am very proud of the responsibility I was entrusted with - to lead Lithuanian peacekeepers in the province of Ghor," PRT-16 Commander Col L.Kubilius addressed the attendees of the ceremony. "We will continue developing close cooperation with the authorities of Ghor administration and local security forces as well as local population. And I wish luck to all the gathered here today, both my contingent and representatives of local institutions because only by our concerted actions can we create a better and safer future of the province of Ghor."
The rotation ceremony was honoured by attendance of the ISAF Regional Command-West, the superior command of the Lithuanian-led Chaghcharan PRT, delegation. Head of the Lithuanian Special Mission in Afghanistan Gintaras Bagdonas, Head of the PRT Civilian Element Jurgis Stanaitis, Governor of Ghor Sayed Anwar Rahmati , representatives of Ghor administration and local security forces authorities, and heads of governmental organisations and NGOs also attended the event and delivered their addresses.
Lithuanian civilian and military personnel in Ghor executes the peacekeeping mission along with the colleagues from Georgia, Japan, USA, Poland, Finland, the Check Republic, Ukraine, and Croatia.
The Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team commenced its activity in Ghor in 2005. Lithuania has scheduled to complete the transfer of responsibility for security in Ghor onto local security forces and to close the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team by the end of 2013.
PRT-16 information
Photos by 1st Lt Indrė Sejonienė
