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Afghan Soldier Opens Fire on Coalition
An Afghan soldier opened fire on a coalition convoy at a checkpoint southern Afghanistan, killing one Romanian soldier and wounding another convoy member before escaping, a senior Afghan military commander said Wednesday. The commander, Gen. Said Mohammad, said the attacker was a veteran Afghan soldier who had acted alone Tuesday while other Afghan soldiers guarding the checkpoint were preparing a meal nearby to break their daily fast during the Ramadan holiday. Mohammad said Taliban and al-Qaida were not involved in the attack on the Romanians. Ah, then who was this "veteran soldier" working for? But a Taliban spokesman, Mullah Abdullah Zabulwal, claimed responsibility for that attack and for a car bomb that exploded near two United Nations offices in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, on Tuesday, wounding two people. Zabulwal, who spoke with The Associated Press by telephone from an unidentified location in Afghanistan, would not discuss the soldier involved in the Romanian assault, saying only that the men who had carried out both attacks had returned to their hideouts safely. Scurried back to their secret lair. The attack on the Romanian convoy was first reported by government officials in Bucharest, who identified the fatality as Sgt. Maj. Iosif Silviu Fogorasi, 33, and said another Romanian soldiers also were wounded. Romania, a former communist country, has 450 troops serving in Afghanistan. Thank you Romania. On Wednesday, Gen. Mohammad said the attack occurred when five Romanian armored cars were stopped at a roadblock about 50 miles east of Kandahar city while returning from Spin Boldak town near the Pakistan border. Earlier reports had said the Romanians returned fire and killed the assailant, but Mohammad said the attacking Afghan soldier, who was not immediately named, fled the scene. Posted by: Steve 2003-11-12 |
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