Czech military officials are investigating reports that the country’s Special Operations Group withdrew from several joint operations with British forces in Afghanistan under questionable circumstances.

According to British and Czech media reports, the Czech ministry of defense is investigating the charges involving the group. The media reports focused on two incidents in particular in which Czech commanders reportedly refused to go into battle because it was deemed either too dangerous or too many of their troops were on leave.

The special operations unit had been deployed in Helmand and Logar provinces and has since returned home, officials were quoted as saying this week.

The accusations against the Czech unit reflect ongoing concerns about the "caveats," or restrictions, placed on some of the international troops operating with NATO in Afghanistan. Those rules keep some nations’ troops in more of a peacekeeping and training role, and largely out of direct combat operations.

U.S. officials have repeatedly asked alliance nations to drop those national caveats.

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