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Swedish soldier dies in Afghanistan
A Swedish soldier died in northern Afghanistan and two others were wounded when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device, a Swedish military communique said.
A Swedish soldier died in northern Afghanistan and two others were wounded when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device, a Swedish military communique said.
The vehicle had been called in after clashes west of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The wounds to the two other soldiers were not in life-threatening, the statement said.
Some 500 Swedish troops are currently posted in northern Afghanistan serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Swedish troops were sent to the country in early 2002, even though Sweden is officially neutral and not a member of NATO.
According to the armed forces five Swedish troops have died in Afghanistan since that date.
ISAF said yesterday that two coalition soldiers had died in separate attacks.
The first soldier died following an improvised explosive device blast in the south of the country, while the second was killed in an "insurgent attack" in the north, ISAF said without releasing any further details.
It is ISAF policy not to identify the nationalities of dead soldiers.
This year, the deadliest yet for foreign forces, 592 NATO-led soldiers have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan, according to an AFP tally based on the independent icasualities.org website, compared to 521 killed last year.
