Identity of Finnish victim of Afghan roadside bomb attack released

Artillery shell hidden in oil container, and detonated by remote control

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The Finnish Defence Forces have released the identity the Finnish peacekeeper killed in a bomb attack in Maimana in the north of Afghanistan early Wednesday morning. The victim was Petri Tapio Immonen, a 29-year-old sergeant, with experience from peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo. He first went to Afghanistan in September last year. Four Norwegian peacekeepers and one local passer-by were injured in the same attack.
      Investigators believe that the improvised explosive device used involved a 122 mm artillery shell, which was probably detonated by remote control. Immonen was less than two metres away from the explosive, which was hidden inside an oil canister.
      In Finland, Immonen worked for the Finnish Border Guard in the southeast of the country.
     
The explosion took place at half past seven local time, when a group of Norwegian soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were on their way to a meeting at a local health clinic in Maimana. The Norwegians had been helping the local clinic. The aim on Wednesday was to discuss the further funding of the project.
      Under ISAF procedure, the Norwegians took with them two people for protection, when they left the fenced-in garrison area. The two guards were Finnish peacekeepers, who wore protective vests, helmets, and carried weapons. They left for the clinic, which was half a kilometre away, on foot.
      The group of seven were just 100 metres from the rear gate of the garrison when a roadside bomb went off near the Maimana bazaar road.
      "It was an artillery shell that was detonated, probably by remote control", says Lieutenant Colonel Ali Mättölä from Maimana. He said that the explosion occurred very near the foot patrol, and that Sergeant Immonen got the full force of the blast.
      The Finnish victim was just a few metres away from the explosive when it went off. One local passer-by was killed and another was injured.
      All four Norwegians suffered shrapnel wounds. They were hospitalised in Masar-I-Sharif, the capital of the neighbouring province, where a larger, Swedish-led ISAF garrison is located. Mättölä says that the condition of one of the Norwegians is "serious, but stable", and that none of the four have life-threatening injuries.
     
"The aim is to get back to normal everyday routine as soon as possible", Mättölä says. He said that the event was a shock, but added that peacekeepers are aware that things like this can happen.
      "The attack was probably aimed directly at us [ISAF], because it was on a route that we take regularly, and the location is one where ISAF soldiers are watched", Mättölä says.
      The commander says that an attack of some kind was expected, especially after last Sunday, when there was an attempted bomb attack against the Norwegians. However, the bomb turned out to be a dud.
      "We have been raising our readiness level all week", Mättölä says. "We are using more protective gear, and restrictions have been placed on moving around both on foot and in vehicles."
      However, Mättölä emphasises that it is impossible to completely protect the forces against roadside bombs.
     
The north of Afghanistan has been considered considerably more peaceful than the south, where the NATO-led ISAF and US special forces are locked in a constant battle against Taleban rebels. The spread of unrest further north has been forecast throughout the spring, and things seem to have gone in that direction now.
      "It would seem that in the past couple of weeks, bomb attacks, and the activity of extremist groups has significantly increased in the northern region", Mättölä says."It is difficult to say which of these attacks is ultimately the work of groups linked with the Taleban, and which are part of the power struggle of local commanders against us."
      The Taleban administration, which was deposed by US and allied forces in November and December 2001, is generally hated in the north of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Norwegian, Finnish, and Latvian ISAF forces in Maimana have managed to establish good relations with local people.
      On Wednesday evening, the peacekeepers in Maimana prepared for negotiations with local security officials. In addition to maintaining relations, the aim is eventually to capture the perpetrators of the terror attack.
      "It is difficult, of course, but the process is well underway", Mättölä says.
     
Leaders of Finland's opposition parties, as well as the Green League, which is in the government, called for a report from the government on the security situation in Afghanistan. The Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats urged the government to report on the situation quickly, at least to the Parliamentary committees on foreign affairs, and defence.
      The Left Alliance, the True Finns, and the Greens, called for a government report on the nature of the ISAF operation, so that Parliament might assess whether nor not to continue the deployment.
      Defence Minister Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) did not promise any reports. He said that the first order of business is to find out what kinds of events led up to the death of the Finnish peacekeeper, and how the security of Finns in Afghanistan might be improved.
      Häkämies is to appear before the Parliamentary Defence Committee today, Thursday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish peacekeeper killed in Afghanistan (23.5.2007)

Links:
  ISAF website

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