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AFGHANISTAN

Fire fight Swedes return to Afghanistan base

The Swedish and Finnish troops that came under fire in Afghanistan on Saturday were able to return safely to base on Sunday morning.

Published: 26 July 2009 10:32 CEST

None of the soldiers sustained injuries in the fire fight, the Swedish defence forces confirmed on their website on Sunday morning.

The Swedish-Finnish patrol was attacked at 5.30pm on Saturday evening and they returned fire. The skirmish, which lasted an hour, occurred 40 kilometres west of the city of Sar-i-Pol in northern Afghanistan.

The area is located approximately 150 kilometres west of Mazar-i-Sharif, where the Swedish International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)-led force (FS17) is based.

ISAF is a NATO-led security and development mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council in 2001. The base is home to Swedish and Finnish peacekeeping forces.

The Swedish-Finnish troops were unable to return to base immediately due to the darkness and rugged terrain.

This is the second time in recent days that Swedish troops had come under fire in Afghanistan. The Local reported on Friday that Swedish forces had killed at least three in a fire fight in Aqchah in northern Afghanistan.

“The Swedish-Finnish patrol returned fire in self-defence in an emergency situation. Thanks to their actions they were able to escape without losses. The patrol returned to a nearby base at dawn,” according to the Finnish lieutenant-colonel Ahti Kurvinen, acting head of the Swedish-Finnish force.

According to the Swedish defence forces it is unknown whether the opposing forces sustained any casualties in the exchange of fire.

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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.

Published: 11 October 2021 15:58 CEST
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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