Direct proof of use
The IWI Negev NG5 light machine gun is directly documented in the 2001 War in Afghanistan through Small Arms Defense Journal's account of ISAF small arms at the Camp Leatherneck area. In its section on Georgian troops, the article says the Georgian arsenal included Israeli IWI 5.56x45 mm Negev light machine guns alongside PKM medium machine guns.
That source places the weapon with Georgian personnel serving inside the U.S.-led ISAF coalition rather than with Afghan government or Taliban forces. The same account describes the Georgian Negevs as light machine guns used with 30-round STANAG magazines and fitted with holographic sights.
Sources: ISAF Armament of BLS
Georgian ISAF context
Georgia's Afghanistan deployment gives the Negev evidence its coalition setting. NATO reported in June 2013 that Georgia had assisted ISAF since 2004 and had more than 1,500 troops deployed, including two infantry battalions serving with U.S. forces in Helmand Province.
DVIDS reporting from April 2014 shows the same type of operating environment: Georgian soldiers from the 31st Georgian Light Infantry Battalion and Marines with a Georgian Liaison Team conducted an air raid led by Afghan National Army soldiers in Helmand Province. The DVIDS story does not identify the Negev, but it supports the operational context for Georgian ISAF troops in Helmand.
Sources: NATO Georgia ISAF Contributor, DVIDS Georgian 31st GLIB Air Raid
Role in theater
Within the sourced Afghanistan record, the Negev appears as a squad or patrol-level fire-support weapon carried by Georgian ISAF personnel. The evidence does not establish a separate transfer date, first combat firing date, or a complete quantity in theater; it supports fielded use by Georgian coalition troops during the war.
Manufacturer material identifies the Negev family as 5.56x45 mm and 7.62x51 mm light machine guns, with the 5.56 mm model fed by belt, assault drum, or NATO magazine. That background matches the Afghanistan-specific source's description of Georgian Negevs being used with STANAG magazines, but the manufacturer page is used here only for weapon-family context.
Sources: ISAF Armament of BLS, IWI Negev Product Page
