I wrote recently about the increasingly dangerous situation in Afghanistan, where Spain has a contingent of severañ hundred soldiers. This danger was confirmed yesterday with the death of a female soldier, Idoia Rodríguez. She was killed by a mine that exploded underneath the armoured ambulance which she was driving, about 40 kilometres away from the Spanish base in Herat. Two other Spanish soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The vehicle was part of a convoy, but was apparently the only one not equipped with a frequency inhibitor to prevent remote controlled detonation of explosives. That said, it is still not clear whether that was the method used for activating the mine in this case. It follows an incident at the beginning of the month when a helicopter was fired on; maybe not enough yet to suggest that the situation is definitely deteriorating but the early signs are not good.
The vehicle was part of a convoy, but was apparently the only one not equipped with a frequency inhibitor to prevent remote controlled detonation of explosives. That said, it is still not clear whether that was the method used for activating the mine in this case. It follows an incident at the beginning of the month when a helicopter was fired on; maybe not enough yet to suggest that the situation is definitely deteriorating but the early signs are not good.
2 comments:
Have had Spanish family out in Afganistan ( and in Bosnia) it it is worrying how the situation is developing. While in Bosnia the Spanish peace keeping forces were very respected I think history shows that in Afganistan foriegn troops are not exactly welcomed with open arms for a long term stay.
Yes, whilst Zapatero was rightly praised for withdrawing troops from Iraq, little comment was made about the prescence of Spanish troops in Afghanistan. Maybe the issue is about to receive a higher profile and the PP will pounce on it by trying to portray it as Iraq 2.
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