Portuguese troops took control of the Kabul Airport, Afghanistan, on Monday for a four-month mission.

The Portuguese national anthem was played in Kabul in the first hours of Monday while Portuguese troops were taking over the command of the facility from a Turkish contingent.

The task of the Portuguese military contingent is to keep peace and support the Afghan government.

There are 37 soldiers in all and 19 of them had arrived in Kabul by mid-July. The rest 18 soldiers, who departed from Lisbon on Saturday, will arrive shortly.

Luis Ruivo, who will command the operation until November, described the Portuguese troops as a "good and motivated team, prepared to work."

The deployment of Portuguese troops in Afghanistan was approved by the Superior National Defense Council in February. And the first contingent departed from Figo Maduro International Airport of Lisbon last month.

Ruivo said at the farewell ceremony for the troops that in spite of the violence in the Asian country, the greatest difficulties for Portuguese troops to overcome are "the distance from relatives and weather conditions that include temperatures around 50 degrees (Celsius) and constant dust clouds."

Source: Xinhua