Belgian F-16s to pull out of Afghanistan

Yesterday the head of the Belgian army, General Gerard Van Caelenberge made a surprise visit to the Belgian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, De Standaard reported. He followed up the visit with the announcement that Belgium's F-16 mission in Kandahar is due to finish at the end of this year.

There are currently about 200 Belgians stationed in the country, mainly in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar. General Van Caelenberge travelled to the NATO air base in Kandahar, where six Belgian F-16 fighters are stationed, providing support to International Security Assistance Force (IASF) ground troops as part of Operation Guardian Falcon. The F-16s will return to Belgium by the end of October, the General confirmed.

In the six years that the Belgian aircraft were in Kandahar, they clocked a total of more than 15,000 flight hours.