87 Azeri peacekeepers back from Iraq

87 Azerbaijani peacekeepers who have completed their mission in Iraq returned home Monday night.

Talking to journalists at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport of Baku, the commander of the peacekeeping contingent Sadig Yahyazada said that the Azerbaijani military men were serving with their US counterparts. They were guarding Iraq’s Hadid water reservoir and the US military base located in the area. The Azerbaijani servicemen shared experience with their US counterparts within six months.

Azerbaijani peacekeeper Rafael Agayev was killed in a road accident while fulfilling his duties. The servicemen of the same number left for Iraq in early July to replace the returning peacekeepers.*

Azerbaijan, which joined the NATO’s protocol on Partnership for Peace in 1994, established its own peacekeeping contingent in 1997. The Azerbaijani peacekeepers were sent to Kosovo for the first time in 1997. Since 2003, the country’s servicemen have been fulfilling peacekeeping mission in Iraq and Afghanistan together with coalition forces.*