PRAGUE, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- A 17-strong surgical team left the Czech Republic on Monday for Iraq to support NATO coalition and Iraqi soldiers at a U.S. base dozens kilometres away from the embattled Mosul.
Jan Sulc, spokesman with Czech general staff, said the team is mainly tasked with medical support for the coalition and Iraqi armed forces.
According to Sulc, most of the team members, including two surgeons, one anesthetist, nursing staff and other specialists, are from the Military Healthcare Agency.
Sulc said the deployment was decided by Czech government and approved by the parliament.
Czech Chief of Staff Josef Becvar saw the surgical team off at the airport.
He said that the Czech military medical personnel enjoy high trust and recognition among its coalition partners thanks to their achievement in their operations over the past years.
Becvar said the team members are well trained and prepared, and he believes they will manage their tasks in the U.S. field hospital in Iraq.
The surgical team will stay in Iraq for six months. After that, the Czech Republic will send experts, most probably engineers, to Iraq to offer training on disposal of explosive devices.
The Czech army has already sent flight instructors to Iraq to train pilots of the Czech-made L-159 fighters in the summer of 2016.
