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An
old unused missile and a bunker of the Albanian army are displayed at
the Defense Ministry in the capital Tirana, Monday Nov. 28, 2016, for
the celebrations of Independence Day. Albania joined NATO in 2009, and
since then has been replacing outdated weaponry with the new ones in
line with the alliance's standards. (AP Photo Hektor Pustina)
TIRANA,
Albania (AP) — Albania has celebrated its Independence Day with a
display of Mig-19 Chinese-made jets and other outdated weaponry.
Two
jets, a helicopter, rocket launchers, a missile, transport vehicles,
guns, other weaponry and a cement bunker from the former communist
regime is on show from Monday in the courtyard of the Defense Ministry
in the Tirana suburbs.
Albania
declared independence in 1912 after five centuries under the Ottoman
Empire. After World War II it was tied first to the Soviet Union and
then to China, until the fall of communism in 1990.
It joined NATO in 2009 and has replaced outdated weaponry in line with the alliance's standards.
Most
of its Eastern Bloc-era transport vehicles, jets, tanks and armored
personal carriers, as well as infantry AK-47 assault rifles, have been
sold for scrap.
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