Georgia minister visits Afghanistan after deaths of 7 troops in truck bombing at base in south

KABUL, Afghanistan – Georgia says its defense minister has arrived in Afghanistan a day after seven Georgian soldiers died in a truck bomb at their base. Irakli Alasania cut short an official trip to Brussels to visit wounded soldiers.

A Ministry of Defense statement from the former Soviet republic said Alasania met Friday with his Afghan counterpart, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.

Afghan official Mohammad Omar Zwark says a suicide attacker drove the truck full of explosives into the entrance of the camp in Helmand province Thursday, causing a huge blast.

The Georgian ministry says all seven killed were members of the same unit and had been in Afghanistan only since April.

Last month, three Georgian soldiers were killed in an attack at another Helmand base.

Georgia has 1,545 troops serving in Afghanistan.