The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has decided that Afghanistan's international airport in Kabul be guarded by troops from a single nation instead of a multinational force, reported the Prague-based Euro magazine on Sunday. The report to be published Monday said the Czech military received information from Brussels that it will be one of the nations given the responsibility to guard the airport for a six month period. The Czech role will is to run from October 2006 to March 2007. In the beginning of June, the German military after nearly 2 1/2 years turned control of Kabul international airport over to NATO. According to the Euro report, 300 to 400 members of one national army are to guard the airport. "The Czech army is in the position to take on such duties," the magazine quoted a Czech Defence Ministry spokesman as saying. The Czech parliament in Prague however must first approve the measure. The Czech Republic is already represented militarily in Afghanistan. --SP 2322 Local Time 2022 GMT
