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Brussels (AFP) Sept 1, 2010 The cost of Poland's contribution in the war in Afghanistan is hindering efforts to modernise the Polish military, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said Wednesday on a visit to NATO headquarters. After talks with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Komorowski called on allies to set the endgame to the military campaign in Afghanistan, where Poland has one of the largest contingents with 2,600 soldiers. "The problem is that the costs of Poland's engagement in foreign operations are so significant that they are having an impact ... on the technical modernisation of the armed forces," he told a press conference. Komorowski, who was elected in July after the death of his predecessor Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash, said during the presidential campaign that he wanted Warsaw to prepare a strategy to bring Polish troops home in 2012. He urged allies on Wednesday to "clearly define the strategy for the end of the mission in Afghanistan." Rasmussen applauded Poland's contribution in Afghanistan, noting that Polish soldiers were operating in "difficult areas." Twenty Polish soldiers have died there since 2002. The NATO chief reiterated hopes that foreign troops can begin to gradually hand security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2011. He noted that the international community endorsed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's goal of giving Afghan forces responsibility for security by 2014. "We are making progress in Afghanistan. Today, we have cleared areas, we are holding areas where the Taliban had control before," he said, although he warned that the transition would depend on conditions on the ground. "We must stay committed until our job is finished and our job is finished when the Afghans can take full responsibility," Rasmussen said. US President Barack Obama warned on Tuesday that troops faced a "very tough fight" in Afghanistan, where a surge strategy will bring the number of foreign soldiers to 150,000 within days.
related report The decision clears the way for the planned deployment of 45 troops of Bosnia-Hercegovina's armed forces to serve with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The unit was expected to leave for Afghanistan in October, the report said. Bosnia, which hopes to join NATO, sent 10 officers to serve with ISAF in 2009. A European Union peacekeeping mission, numbering around 2,000 troops, remains in Bosnia in the wake of its 1992-1995 war.
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