Between 120 and 150 Colombian soldiers will take part in the NATO mission in Afghanistan before the end of this year, a high Spanish Defense official said Thursday.
In an interviews with national news agency Efe, defense official Benito Raggio said he will travel to Colombia next week to discuss details of the deal made between Colombia and NATO to let Colombian troops take part in the Spanish contingent in the Asian country.
However, Raggio said "technical problems" arose that need to be solved before Colombia can be sending troops. The problems involve transport, the training of the involved troops and their integration into the NATO mission.
The Colombians will serve under Spanish command in Afghanistan and will mostly focus on landmine detection and destruction, authorities announced earlier this year.
