Soldiers from Poland's Operational Mobile Reaction Group (GROM) will leave for Afghanistan soon to support other Polish units there, reported the Polish news agency PAP on Monday.

The troops on Monday received an official farewell from Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo and military Chief of Staff General Franciszek Gagor.

Established on July 13, 1990, GROM is a special unit of the Polish army, which can also serve in counter-terrorist operations.

Currently, there are over 100 Polish soldiers in Afghanistan, and the Polish government last year vowed to send 1,000 more in the first half of 2007.

But the plan has been strongly opposed by Poles. The latest opinion poll conducted by the Polish National Public Opinion Center showed that nearly 80 percent of Poles are against the deployment of Polish troops in Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua