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AFGHANISTAN

Swedish soldiers attacked in Afghanistan

A group of Swedish soldiers came under attack in Afghanistan on Thursday evening. The soldiers were patrolling with Afghani police when they were shot at.

An Afghani police officer was killed and two were injured in the attack. None of the Swedish soldiers were hurt.

The attack occurred at 9pm Swedish time, 30 kilometres west of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province.

The Swedish defence forces are very reticent over the details of the attack.

“I can not go in to the nature of their mission and we do not comment equipment, the vehicle they were driving in or the security classification of the area,” Lukas Linné of the Swedish defence forces in Afghanistan said to news agency TT.

By the evening it remained unclear as to whom lay behind the attack on the Swedish forces. According to Linné the Swedes were on patrol with Afghani police when they were first attacked by explosives and then with hand-held firearms.

“The Swedish soldiers returned fire but none of the enemy were killed nor injured, according to our current information,” Linné confirmed.

According to Linné the area is now safe, calm and secure.

“We are continuing to perform our responsibilities, that is to say contribute to the work of the Afghani police,” he said.

The attack is the latest in a string of incidents involving Swedish forces in Afghanistan.

In November 2005 two Swedes were killed in the vicinity of Mazar-i-Sharif and last October-November three incidents were reported involving Swedish troops that had come under fire.

There are currently 70,000 foreign troops serving in Afghanistan. Of these 50,000 are part of the Nato-led Isaf – International Security Assistance Force – and are operating in the country on a UN mandate.

In addition there are 20,000 troops participating in the US-led OEF – Operation Enduring Freedom.

The almost 400 Swedish troops in Afghanistan are part of the Isaf force. Sweden recently announced an increase in its commitment to 500 soldiers.

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AFGHANISTAN

Spain starts evacuating Afghan employees via Pakistan

Spain was on Monday evacuating via Pakistan Afghan helpers left behind when western forces quit Kabul, a government source confirmed on condition of anonymity.

A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

The government source declined to give any details of the move, citing security concerns.

But Spanish media, including daily El País and National Radio, reported that Madrid would bring close to 250 Afghan citizens, who had already crossed into Pakistan and would be flown out on military transport planes.

The first flight was expected to arrive on Monday evening.

Spain’s evacuations have been weeks in the making, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares visiting Pakistan and Qatar in early September to lay the groundwork.

Madrid evacuated over 2,000 people, most of them Afghans who had worked for Spain and their families, during the western withdrawal as the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August.

But the flights had to stop once the final American troops that had been protecting the Afghan capital’s airport left.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in August that Spain would not “lose interest in the Afghans who had remained” in their country but wanted to leave.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Friday urged the bloc’s member states to host a “minimum” of between 10,000 and 20,000 more Afghan refugees.

“To welcome them, we have to evacuate them, and we’re getting down to it, but it’s not easy,” he said in Madrid.

The EU has said a demand by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to take in 42,500 Afghan refugees over five years can be achieved — although any decision lies with member states.

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