Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan firefight
Swedish soldiers were involved in a firefight west of their base in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan on Saturday.
No Swedes were injured in the exchange of fire and seven armed combatants were arrested.
"It is calm there now but the operation is ongoing and they will remain during the night. But they are counting on being able to continue on Sunday," said Marie Tisäter at the Swedish Armed Forces in Stockholm on Saturday evening.
Swedish forces had during Friday and Saturday been operating together with Afghan forces to conduct search operations in the troubled area west of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country.
The Swedes have been involved in several recent incidents in the area. The soldiers were on this occasion shot at with a grenade launcher, among other weapons, but escaped without injury.
On Friday the Afghan forces met resistance from armed fighters and detained seven people.
An Afghan woman was injured in the fighting on Saturday and was rushed to hospital by helicopter ambulance. Fighting intensified in the area during Saturday afternoon, but eased off as night fell.
Sweden has around 500 troops in Afghanistan. Thus far five Swedish soldiers have died, as well as a Norwegian with dual Swedish citizenship, and an Afghan interpreter employed by the Swedish forces.
Comments
See Also
No Swedes were injured in the exchange of fire and seven armed combatants were arrested.
"It is calm there now but the operation is ongoing and they will remain during the night. But they are counting on being able to continue on Sunday," said Marie Tisäter at the Swedish Armed Forces in Stockholm on Saturday evening.
Swedish forces had during Friday and Saturday been operating together with Afghan forces to conduct search operations in the troubled area west of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country.
The Swedes have been involved in several recent incidents in the area. The soldiers were on this occasion shot at with a grenade launcher, among other weapons, but escaped without injury.
On Friday the Afghan forces met resistance from armed fighters and detained seven people.
An Afghan woman was injured in the fighting on Saturday and was rushed to hospital by helicopter ambulance. Fighting intensified in the area during Saturday afternoon, but eased off as night fell.
Sweden has around 500 troops in Afghanistan. Thus far five Swedish soldiers have died, as well as a Norwegian with dual Swedish citizenship, and an Afghan interpreter employed by the Swedish forces.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.