Finnish vehicle damaged in explosion in Afghanistan
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A group of six Finnish military observers in Afghanistan faced a dangerous situation on Tuesday morning when an explosion took place near their vehicles. There were no injuries in the blast.
The observers were moving in two Land-Rovers from Masar-i-Sharif to Kabul, when a bomb apparently went off close to them near the town of Poli Khumr.
One of the vehicles was slightly damaged by shrapnel. The group nevertheless was able to continue its journey without stopping.
The group arrived in Kabul in the evening, where they were immediately debriefed. Helsingin Sanomat was told that the men were in good spirits at the Finnish base.
Lieutenant Colonel Pertti Pullinen from the International Centre of the Finnish Defence Forces says that the incident took place in an area supervised by Hungarian forces. He said that such close calls are always a shock to those involved.
Pullinen himself served for a year in Afghanistan as commander of Finnish forces there. He relinquished the post to his successor, Juha Vauhkonen, late last month.
"Several roadside bomb attacks have taken place in that area, and that is the most likely alternative in this case", he said.
Pullinen said that it is doubtful that the perpetrators will be found out. In addition to the Taleban, local bands of thieves might be behind the attack.
The tasks of the Finnish forces include collecting information about the situation in the provinces from local residents and tribal leaders. The Finns usually move around in groups of six soldiers in two armoured patrol vehicles.
Finland has about 100 peacekeepers in Afghanistan. In August 61 of them returned home, and were replaced in the rotation by 61 others, on deployments of between six months and a year.
The peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan involves about 33,500 soldiers from nearly 40 countries.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 12.9.2007 - TODAY |
 Finnish vehicle damaged in explosion in Afghanistan |
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