To welcome the minister, at the military airport of Kabul the ISAF chief of staff, general of the corps of Vincent Santo and the ambassador Luciano Pezzotti.
During the meeting with the Italian military personnel present in Kabul, the minister expressed words of great appreciation for the meritorious work carried out by the staff of the Italian armed forces, which holds staff positions at the command of the ISAF mission.
The day among the Italian soldiers in Afghanistan continued in Herat, where the Train Advise Assist Command West is based, based on the "Garibaldi" Bersaglieri Brigade, in which most of the personnel of the Italian armed forces deployed in the country operates. Upon his arrival, the minister was welcomed by the commander, Brigadier General Maurizio Angelo Scardino with whom, together with the army corps general Vincenzo Santo, who also came from Kabul, and a representative of soldiers belonging to all the armed forces, took part in the videoconference organized on the occasion of the exchange of greetings between the President of the Republic and the personnel employed in all operations abroad. On that occasion, Minister Pinotti thanked President Napolitano because "his support for what our soldiers do has never been lacking and has always been constant and assiduous".
Speaking about the work of the soldiers, the minister highlighted how their work is always done well and with great professionalism, also reporting the words of thanks expressed by the Afghan president Ghani.
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Subsequently, Minister Pinotti met the women and men of the contingent, gathered for the occasion in Piazza Italia of "Camp Arena" to which he said he wanted "to be here to bring my best wishes, those of the government and those of All the Italians". During his speech the minister stressed that this mission was the longest and most demanding after the world wars and the one in which the blood tribute was highest in terms of casualties and injuries. "Italy has done a lot in these years" the minister underlined "and the measure of the work that has been done is given, for example, by the 6.000.000 of children and 4.000.000 of little girls today they can go to school compared to 1.000.000 of only children attending school when the mission started because the Taliban denied access to girls' education. " These issues were also addressed in the meeting with President Ghani, to whom the minister recalled that "school, education and culture are the things of which the enemies of Afghanistan are mainly afraid".
The visit ended with a heartfelt tribute to the 54 Italian soldiers who fell on the ground in Afghanistan through the deposition of a crown to the monument dedicated to them and whose names were pronounced, one by one, by the military ordinary, Mgr. Santo Marcianò.
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Source: Major State of Defense
