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Berlusconi Calls for Afghan Withdrawal
[Quqnoos] Italian Premier called on foreign troops to leave Afghanistan after six Italian troops were killed in Kabul on Thursday. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who attended an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, said that they are "keen" to take international troops out of Afghanistan "as soon as possible". The Italian leader conceded that any decision would only be made with the country's Nato allies, saying that Italy "is dealing with an international question that you can't decide on your own because that would betray an accord". But he added: "We are all convinced that we have to get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible." At least six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians were killed in Thursday's suicide attack on a road linking Kabul's international airport to the US Embassy. Fifty other Afghans, most of them civilians, were also wounded, according to officials. The suicide attack occurred just a week after a similar car bombing that left five dead on the same highway, including two US soldiers. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the bombing. Taliban militants have intensified their post-election attacks against international and Afghan troops across the country. Italy has lost 21 of its military personnel in Afghanistan since beginning of the war in 2001. Posted by: Fred 2009-09-20 |
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