Troops hand out food in Afghanistan

  • 2009-03-20
  • From wire reports
VILNIUS - Lithuanian troops in Ghor have handed over 3.5 tons of food tothe Afghan province's Rural Development Department.

The department will distributethe 3 tons of flour and 600 liters of cooking oil among the mostimpoverished local families.

Major Gediminas Latvys, the commander of the civilian-militarycooperation division of the PRT-8, said the amount of food was not large butthat it will help rural families in the biggest need, the Lithuanian DefenseMinistry said.

"One of the objectives of our work is to support the province'sadministration institutions and boost the population's trust in theadministration, therefore, we provide the assistance to relevantadministrative bodies rather than directly to the people," said Latvys.

During their patrol of Ghor villages over the past winter, Lithuanian PRTtroops distributed about 30 tons of food to local residents.