Explosion Kills Five Peacekeepers in Kabul

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 07, 2002

Explosion Kills Five Peacekeepers in Kabul

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

A Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile exploded Wednesday as international peacekeepers in the Afghan capital tried to defuse it. Two German and three Danish soldiers were killed and eight others were injured, officials said.

Brig. Gen. Carl Hubertus von Butler, commander of German peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan, called the explosion a "tragic incident." Caring for the wounded, who were rushed to peacekeepers' medical facilities in Kabul, was the top priority, he said.

The soldiers were attempting to destroy two Russian-made SA-3 ground-to-air missiles with a controlled explosion at a munitions collection point about 3 miles from the German military's base in Kabul, said Gen. Harald Kujat, Germany's top military officer.

The SA-3 was part of the arsenal of Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers, officials said.

"Apparently, the explosion went off early," Kujat told a news conference in Berlin. "The soldiers were still in the area close to the two missiles."

Other details about the explosion remained unclear, such as how many soldiers were in the vicinity of the explosion, how the explosion was triggered and why the casualty figure was so high.

In addition to the five dead, eight soldiers were injured, Butler said. Among them, three were seriously wounded, Kujat said. The Danish Defense Command said three of the injured were Danes.

The casualties were the first German or Danish soldiers killed in the security force set up to protect the government of Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai.

Questions?Comments? Click here

New Zealand Keen to Send Peacekeepers to Afghanistan

Afghan Army Units Ordered to Leave Kabul in Three Days