ALMATY. Oct 13 (Interfax-Kazakhstan) - A sapper unit of the Kazakh peacekeeping contingent in Iraq has disarmed over 107,000 mines and other explosive devices in that country.
Kazakh Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev made this statement in reply to a question from Interfax while he was talking to the press in Almaty on October 11.
Altynbayev said the Kazakh Defense Ministry is preparing a visit of an inspection group to Iraq.
Asked how security of the Kazakh peacekeepers is maintained, Altynbayev said, "They are armed and are guarding themselves."
A 27-strong Kazakh sapper unit has been in Iraq since August. The Kazakh peacekeepers are stationed not far from Baghdad near the border with Iran, within an area controlled by the Polish peacekeeping contingent.