Czechs would offer 200 troops in IS ground op

The Czech Republic’s defense minister says that his country would be able to deploy about 200 soldiers in the case of an international ground operation against the Islamic State group.

Martin Stropnicky says most of them would be members of an anti-chemical warfare unit, while the rest would be medical personnel.

Speaking Sunday on Czech public television, Stropnicky said the Czechs would participate if there were a NATO ground operation.

He said a preferable solution would be the current airstrikes alongside a ground attack by forces from the countries in the region while the West would help provide weapons to their armies.

The minister says that after the Paris attacks “the probability of a ground operation is increasing, but nothing has been decided yet.”

— AP