It has been a busy week in the hinterlands of northern Afghanistan, where soldiers from the Nordic nations were engaged in heavy fighting. Swedish and Finnish soldiers were attacked during a routine evening patrol 40km west of Mazar-i-Sharif, where the ISAF force led by Sweden is stationed.
When the patrol began taking fire outside of Aqchah, the soldiers called for reinforcements and slugged it out with the militants. Three of the attackers were killed and two were injured, according to The Local, during the skirmish that lasted through the night and into the morning hours. One of the attackers was captured and taken for interrogation.
There are between 40 and 50 Swedish personnel stationed in Aqchah. The Swedes were driving armoured vehicles that gave them the protection needed to return fire. Once reinforcements arrived with their Combat Vehicle 90, it was all but over for the ambushers, who continued intermittent fire fights throughout the night.
Fortunately, no Nordic soldiers were injured during the fight. Swedish military spokespeople were uncertain why the Nordic unit was attacked, though it was probably connected to the upcoming Afghan elections set for the end of August. In recent weeks the number and frequency of attacks against foreign troops has sharply increased.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt admitted the situation in northern Afghanistan is neither better nor worse than before. “I visited the Swedish troops a few months ago and I know for a fact that the area has been problematic before. But the violence is likely increased leading up to the election,” he told Swedish news agency TT from Kabul, where he is due to meet President Hamid Karzai this weekend.
“There is something wrong with the soft western wrists.”
Balkanson, I guess everything wrong with people like Carl Bildt who spent all his life doing nothing and now says “I visited the Swedish troops a few months ago and I know for a fact…”
He visited – so he “knows”. Then such carls bildts make decisions – but we pay for that. :-(
What the Nordic vikings (read farmers, gay-pride lovers, etc.) are doing in Afghanistan? This is not a non-populated Iceland by the end of 9th century waiting to be invaded. Soviet Union fought but did not succeed because the Western backup for Afghan. 20 years later there is no Russian help for Afghan, but the West still can not win, even with the full real-time satellite imagery, positional (GPS) and communication domination over the area. People in Afghanistan are fighting for ages for their lives. And they fight hard. They are not Play Station and Hollywood brainwashed. They relatives live downtown all Swedish cities, see Malmö, Gamla stan in Stockholm, etc. There is something wrong with the soft western wrists.