U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Richard Hoagland has offered to Kazakhstan to take part in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

In his speech given at the opening ceremony of the military training Steppe Eagle-2009 on the Ilisky testing ground in Kazakhstan on Monday, Hoagland said Kazakhstan may again become part of the international NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

Among the participants in the Steppe Eagle-2009 training are over 1,300 servicemen from Kazakhstan, the UK, and the U.S. The training also involved over 100 units of combat and special equipment and military transport aircraft.

This training is conducted in accordance with earlier signed documents and treaties on various aspects of military and military-technical cooperation, the Kazakh Defense Ministry reported.

The purpose of the training is to check the coordination of Kazbrig units and the NATO forces in peacekeeping operations and to hone commanders'' practical skills in managing units, organizing interaction between them during peacekeeping operations, the ministry said in its report.