Finnish forces take fire again in Afghanistan

No peacekeepers injured in Monday attack

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Finnish and Swedish crisis management forces in Afghanistan were fired on on Monday evening. The incident, in the province of Sar-i-Pol, was the fifth within two weeks.
      The Finnish and Swedish patrol of about 20 peacekeepers came under fire from two directions at about half past eight PM local time (7:00 PM Finnish time).
      None of the peacekeepers were hurt in the approximately half-hour of shooting.
     
The province of Sar-i-Pol is in the western part of the area under the responsibility of the Finnish and Swedish forces. It is one of two regions in the area with widespread unrest. Finns fired their first shots in anger in Afghanistan at the border of the province on July 25th.
      Attacks on the Finnish forces have largely followed the same pattern, says Colonel Jari Kallio of the Finnish Army Staff.
      In the attacks, mobile patrols have been fired on from a distance of several hundred metres. The attackers have generally remained unidentified, and their exact number has remained unclear.
      The Finnish forces have moved to better positions and returned the fire. The forces continued their patrols on Tuesday.
     
The weapons used by the attackers are believed to have included rifles and assault rifles.
      Kallio said that there was nothing “especially threatening” in Monday’s incident.
      “The peacekeepers are well-equipped, and they have good vehicles which give them protection. Of course, there is always a risk if there is shooting”, he said.
     
Kallio says that the attacks have not weakened the morale of the Finnish forces, nor have they directly affected procedures among the forces.
      According to Kallio, information on Monday’s incident was not given out until Tuesday, when the sequence of events was being investigated after daybreak.
      This time, Finnish ISAF forces commander Ahti Kurvinen did not brief the media on the incident from Afghanistan. “Kurvinen leads the peacekeeping forces and he certainly has his hands full of work”, Kallio said.
     
Unrest has increased considerably in recent months in the north of Afghanistan, where the Nordic forces are deployed. One reason for this is the resurgence of the Taleban, or groups supporting the Taleban in the area.
      Another factor is the increase in international forces in the area, sent there to help secure the presidential elections to be held in late August.
      Kallio noted that not all of those attacking the Finns were necessarily Taleban: they could have been local criminals.
     
Finland’s new Chief of Defence General Ari Puheloinen said on Tuesday that Finland should be prepared for possible deaths in the Afghan peacekeeping operation.
      According to Puheloinen, the level of risk in Afghanistan has risen in recent weeks. The coming weeks will show if the unrest is linked with the Presidential elections, or if the state of affairs is a permanent one.
      At his first press conference in his new post, Gen. Puheloinen insisted that Finland must carry out the mission that it has embarked on.
      Asked if he feels that he is a wartime commander, Puheloinen said that he does not.
     
As the situation in Afghanistan has grown more tense, Finland has found it more difficult to recruit volunteers for peacekeeping duty.
      “So far, there have been enough volunteers even for demanding tasks”, Puheloinen said.
      He added that it is important to make sure that the peacekeepers get the right training and equipment, and that efforts need to be made to prevent serious dangerous situations.
      As an added incentive, the Defence Forces have raised the pay of peacekeepers in Afghanistan and Chad, and given them more psycho-social support, and improved their insurance coverage.
     
The Finns have lost one soldier in Afghanistan, when Sergeant Petri Immonen was killed by a roadside bomb in Maimana in the north of Afghanistan in 2007.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland to send more troops to Afghanistan next summer (12.12.2008)
  Finnish peacekeepers engaged in yet another exchange of fire in Afghanistan (31.7.2009)
  Häkämies: Additional forces to Afghanistan only for election (12.6.2009)
  Parliament approves additional forces to Afghanistan (9.3.2009)

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