Finnish commander denies Norwegian claims of slow rescue efforts in Afghanistan attack

Body of Finnish peacekeeper to be brought back to Finland on Tuesday

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The commander of the Finnish peacekeeping force in Maimana in the north of Afghanistan, Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Mättölä, denies Norwegian claims that the Finnish peacekeeping soldier who was killed in a bomb attack on Wednesday might have been saved if rescue efforts had been quicker.
      The Finns are part of a unit of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under Norwegian command.
      The Norwegians have said that rescue helicopters took too long to arrive, and called for more investment in medical response. Mättölä maintains that no investments could have saved the soldier.
      "He was so close to the explosion and received such serious injuries, that he could not have been saved even if he had been put immediately on a helicopter and flown to a hospital."
      Mättölä attributed the comments to a dispute between Norwegian Defence Forces and the ISAF medical service on whether or not more investments should be made into the medical side.
      "Discussion is important as such", Mättölä adds.
     
It took about two hours for the helicopter to reach the area.
      "Considering the prevailing conditions and distances in Afghanistan, we have prepared for these kinds of durations in all of our planning, and I emphasise that the evacuation flight performed by the Germans was conducted professionally."
      Mättölä also feels that the peacekeepers' medical capacity in Maimana is adequate.
      "Let us say that in this situation, the medical response was just what we had expected. No kinds of investments would have saved the Finnish peacekeeper."
     
Sergeant Petri Immonen, who was killed in the Wednesday attack, was helping secure the movements of four Norwegian peacekeepers and one local interpreter when the improvised explosive device went off.
      On Thursday, the Taleban movement claimed responsibility for the attack, but the announcement could not be verified.
      The body of Sergeant Immonen will be received at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at noon on Tuesday with full military honours.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Taleban claims responsibility for explosion that killed Finnish peacekeeper (25.5.2007)
  Identity of Finnish victim of Afghan roadside bomb attack released (24.5.2007)
  Finnish peacekeeper killed in Afghanistan (23.5.2007)

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