Nederland en Afghanistan 70

The father of one of the Italian soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan collapses as coffins are off-loaded in Rome. A roadside bomb killed two Italian soldiers and wounded four in Afghanistan on Friday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, symptomatic of their intensified campaign against foreign troops and the government in recent months.

De Washington Post bericht: 'Bomb Kills Two Italian Peacekeepers in Afghanistan. Kabul - A roadside bomb killed two Italian peacekeepers and wounded four in Afghanistan on Friday and the Taliban claimed responsibility. Taliban insurgents have intensified their campaign against foreign troops and the government in recent months with a wave of roadside and suicide bombings, attacks and assassinations. The latest blast hit one of a two-vehicle Italian convoy on a main road 16 km (10 miles) south of Kabul. The troops had been on their way to help an Afghan police vehicle that had hit a mine. "This tragic incident will not affect our total determination and commitment to this mission," the new British commander of the NATO force, Lieutenant General David Richards, said in a statement. Violence in parts of Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001. Twenty foreign soldiers have been killed this year. Italy has some 1,775 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. It handed over command of the force to Britain on Thursday. A Taliban official, Abdul Raouf, claimed responsibility. Speaking by telephone, he said the Italians had been hit by a remote-control bomb. Italy is still recovering from last week's killing of three soldiers in Iraq by a roadside bomb which struck their convoy southwest of Nassiriya. "The issue of the price paid by our soldiers for peace and stability is one of the biggest issues, perhaps the biggest one in our country right now," Italy's incoming prime minister, Romano Prodi, told reporters. The security situation in Afghanistan was "very serious," he said.' Lees verder:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050500726.html Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/B051006X.shtml