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AFGHANISTAN

Swede dies in Afghanistan firefight

A Swede serving with the US army has been killed in Afghanistan after his unit came under attack in the Khost province, according to a report in the Expressen daily.

Published: 22 July 2012 10:08 CEST
Swede dies in Afghanistan firefight

The 24-year-old was in Khost on July 14th when his unit was shot at with rocket grenades and smalls arms fire. The man was injured in the attack and died of his injuries in a military hospital, according to the US defence department.

The dead soldier has been identified as Staff Sgt. Carl E. Hammar, 24, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona and was serving with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment.

Carl Eric Hammar held dual citizenship and grew up in Grillby near Enköping in eastern Sweden, according to Expressen. He travelled to the US as an exchange student when he was 17-years-old and signed up to the US military.

He has twice served in Iraq and was sent to Afghanistan in December. He will now be buried in Arlington national cemetery in Virginia beside many other US casualties of war.

Known as Eric, Hammar was the father of two children – aged one and seven.

Khost province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan and lies in the east of the country.

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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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