Sgt Valerian Khujadze, who was serving with the
NATO-led ISAF operation in Helmand Province, has been killed by an (IED)
improvised explosive device.
Sgt Khujadze of the 31st Battalion was patrolling when the IED exploded and he died from his injuries, Georgian TV station Rustavi2 reported.
He had been serving in the Georgian Armed Forces since 2004 and took part in the peacekeeping mission in Iraq.
In 2011 he was awarded the Medal for Participation in Peacekeeping Operations.
The Ministry of Defence have expressed condolences to Sgt Khujadze's family, who will receive a package of social assistance in accordance with Georgian legislation.
Sgt Khujadze was the fifth Georgian soldier to die in Helmand Province this year and the 16th Georgian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.
mod.gov.ge
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Georgia is a staunch ally of the United States with ambitions to join NATO and currently has 800 troops serving in Afghanistan, according to the alliance's website -- a major contribution from a small country of 4.4 million people.
Georgia's parliament voted in December to send another battalion to Afghanistan, which is expected to almost double the country's contingent there.
Tbilisi's NATO aspirations have infuriated neighbour Russia, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this month that Georgia had become a “model partner” for the alliance but there was still a “long road” towards membership.
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