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AFGHANISTAN

Swedish soldiers held ‘fight club’ in Afghanistan

Swedish military police are investigating a suspected illegal boxing match arranged by a group of Swedish soldiers at the Mazar-i-Sharif base in Afghanistan which reportedly left one soldier in need of medical treatment.

Published: 21 February 2012 14:15 CET
Swedish soldiers held 'fight club' in Afghanistan

”This wasn’t something that the unit organized. But I haven’t received any information that anyone required medical treatment,” said Colonel Rickard Johansson to daily Expressen, confirming the investigation by the military police.

The fight, rumoured to have taken place at the end of last year, lacked both rules and a permit and was reminiscent of the Hollywood movie ”Fight Club” staring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton, according to the paper.

Organizing a boxing match without a permit is prohibited by Swedish law, and the soldiers reportedly never applied for a permit.

Instead, the soldiers inquired about arranging the fight with camp doctors, who were not happy about the idea.

While a written notice banning the event was posted on a bulletin board, some form of boxing match did take place, prompting an investigation by military police.

”As far as I can understand it is being discussed whether this was a boxing match or not. It is a legal distinction,” Johansson told the paper.

The soldiers could have been fined or even jailed had they been found guilty, but according to Expressen, the prosecutor chose to drop the preliminary investigation.

The rules for organized fighting competitions in Sweden are strict and they apply to all martial arts and boxing events.

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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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