A Finnish peacekeeping soldier, who was part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, has been killed in a roadside bomb attack in Maimana in the north of the country.
The Finish Defence Command reports that a bomb exploded at a Norwegian ISAF camp in Maimana at about 9:00 Wednesday morning. Two Norwegian soldiers were injured.
The Finnish peacekeeper was on foot patrol with two Norwegians. The soldiers were giving protection to hospital personnel of the ISAF operation about 50 metres from the peacekeepers' base. The Finn died of his injuries about an hour after the bomb attack. The next of kin of the victim have been notified of his death.
An Afghan official says that the bomb may have been detonated by remote control, according to the Finnish News Agency STT.
Finland has more than 100 soldiers in the ISAF peacekeeping operation. Of the group, 31 are in Maimana along with Norwegian and Latvian forces. This summer the Finns were to have withdrawn from Maimana, to be replaced by Latvians.
A total of 47 Finnish peacekeepers have been killed on various deployments since 1956, when the first Finnish peacekeeping soldiers were sent to the Suez. Fifteen of the victims died while on duty. About 43,000 Finnish men and women have served in 31 different peacekeeping and military observer missions during the past 50 years.
Both President Tarja Halonen and Defence Minister Jyri Häkämies have expressed their condolences to the next of kin of the dead soldier. The government held a moment of silence upon hearing the news this morning.
