 NATO soldier killed in Afghan attack: alliance Kabul (AFP) May 6, 2010 - A soldier serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died in "a small-arms attack" in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the alliance said. In keeping with policy, the ISAF statement did not disclose the nationality of the soldier nor any details of the attack. The death brings to 181 the number of foreign soldiers who have died this year as a result of the war in Afghanistan, according to an AFP count based on the independent icasualties.org website. A total of 520 foreign soldiers died in 2009 in Afghanistan, which is in the grip of a bloody insurgency waged by remnants of the Taliban since they were overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001. NATO and the United States are throwing thousands of extra troops into Afghanistan. Their deployment is to peak at 150,000 in August under a strategy aimed at bringing a swift end to the conflict. |
It did not give details on the degree of the soldiers' injuries.
The military said the attack took place shortly before a sand storm, to the north-east of the city of Gerehsk.
Because of poor visibility, the injured soldiers could not be evacuated by air and were instead driven to a nearby Danish base before being evacuated by helicopter to the Camp Bastion hospital at Danish headquarters.
Attacks against Danish soldiers have intensified in Afghanistan over the past weeks, with three previous attacks injuring a total of 10 soldiers since April 25.
Some 750 Danish troops are deployed in Afghanistan, as part of the International Security Assistance Forces mostly based in the southern Helmand province under British command.
With 29 soldiers killed since deploying there in late 2001, the Scandinavian country of 5.5 million people has suffered more deaths than any other country proportionally to the number of troops it has in ISAF.
Two other Danish soldiers have died in Afghanistan outside of combat, one committed suicide and the other died of a heart attack.
 del.icio.us |
 Digg |
 Reddit |
 YahooMyWeb |
 Google |
 Facebook |
China touts Tibet, Xinjiang harmony at Expo| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |