Swedish troops mourn loss of their comrade in Afghanistan

Swedish operations remain unchanged; Danes pull out from Armadillo base in Helmand Province

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On Sunday flags were flown at half-mast and candles were lit in the chapel of the Swedish Afghanistan base, Camp Northern Lights, to honour the Swedish soldier who was killed by a roadside bomb on Saturday.
      Two other soldiers were injured in the attack, which blew up an armoured personnel carrier that had been called in to support troops on the ground who were coming under fire from small calibre weapons.
      The 22-year-old man is the sixth Swedish soldier to have lost his life in the international peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan. According to Colonel Gustaf Fahl, the commander of the Swedish troops in Afghanistan, the incident will not cause the Swedes to change their activities in the country in any way.
      “There are no plans for any such a move. Instead, the cooperation with the Finnish troops and the Afghan authorities has been successful and the number of attacks has come down”, Fahl said.
     
The Finns and the Swedes belong to the same unit in Northern Afghanistan in the NATO-led ISAF operation. No Finnish troops were involved in Saturday’s attack.
      Sweden has currently more than 500 soldiers in Afghanistan.
     
According to the Politiken daily, the Danish troops are in a process of withdrawing from their base in Helmand Province, where there have been fierce clashes against the Taleban troops.
      The Armadillo base gained fame after it featured in a stirring Danish documentary film by the same name that was released earlier this year. The base’s name has since been changed to Budwan.
      According to the paper, the Danes have given up the attempt to re-conquer a valley area north of the city of Gereshk from the Taleban.
     
The offensive to take over the area began three years ago and in it 23 Danish troops have so far lost their lives.
      The base is supposed to house 150 soldiers, but right now there are only 30 of them left.
      Troops have also been pulled from other bases in the area, and they are now being concentrated in the city of Gereshk itself.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish forces come under fire in Afghanistan (7.9.2010)
  Finnish forces take fire again in Afghanistan (5.8.2009)

See also:
  Two Swedish soldiers killed in Afghanistan (8.2.2010)

Links:
  Armadillo (Internet Movie Database)

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