Danish soldier killed in gun battle

23-year-old soldier Steffen Bloch Larsen, serving with the Danish Royal Lifeguards, Saturday was shot and killed in Afghanistan, was married last summer, telling his comrades from the 3rd division in a tribute.

Our friend Steffen was a very positive, empathetic and helpful person who always 
drew the care of others before themselves. A person who always gave more than what he 
demanded of others. A very cheerful person with his happy, humorous and 
always smiling creature affected all around him.

How to tell fellow soldiers from the 3rd Division on Steffen Bloch Larsen, who was killed Saturday during a foot patrol Saturday in Helmand province.

The defense announced Sunday the name of the 23-year-old soldier, along with tribute from Steffen Bloch Larsen s fellow soldiers from his company commander and from Col. Karsten Kjaer Eiholm

- It was a great pleasure for me because after the summer he asked me a map 
interview, where he proudly told me that he had married his girlfriend. It 
was fantastic to hear and see his pride in this regard. It was 
clearly understand how his love was, says his company commander in the memory word that sends his thoughts to Steffen Bloch Larsen's surviving spouse.

Italian paratrooper, Lt. Antonio Fortunato

Lt. Antonio Fortunato

Italian paratrooper, Lieutenant Antonio Fortunato, aged 29, was one of six Italian soldiers killed 17th September 2009, when a suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles in central Kabul.

The blast was so huge that nearby buildings shook.

Lt. Fortunato served with the Italian 186th Parachute Regiment.

The soldier was posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain.

Italian Paratrooper, Sgt. Roberto Valente

Sgt. Roberto Valente

Italian paratrooper, Sergeant Roberto Valente, aged 31, was one of six Italian soldiers killed 17th September 2009, when a suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles in central Kabul.

The blast was so huge that nearby buildings shook.

Sgt. Valente served with the Italian 187th Parachute Regiment.

The soldier was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Italian Paratrooper, Cpl. Matteo Mureddu

Cpl. Matteo Mureddu

Italian paratrooper, Corporal Matteo Mureddu, aged 26, was one of six Italian soldiers killed 17th September 2009, when a suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles in central Kabul.

The blast was so huge that nearby buildings shook.

Cpl. Mureddu served with the Italian 186th Parachute Regiment.

The soldier was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

Italian Paratrooper, Cpl. Giandomenico Pistonami

Cpl. Giandomenico Pistonami

Italian paratrooper, Corporal Giandomenico Pistonami, aged 26, was one of six Italian soldiers killed 17th September 2009, when a suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles in central Kabul.

The blast was so huge that nearby buildings shook.

Cpl. Pistonami served with the Italian 186th Parachute Regiment.

The soldier was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

Italian paratrooper, Cpl. Massimiliano Randino

Massimiliano Randino

Italian paratrooper, Corporal Massimiliano Randino, aged 32, was one of six Italian soldiers killed 17th September 2009, when a suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles in central Kabul.

The blast was so huge that nearby buildings shook.

Cpl. Randino served with the Italian 183rd Parachute Regiment.

The soldier was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant. 

Italian Paratrooper, Cpl. Davide Ricchiuto

Cpl. Davide Ricchiuto

Italian paratrooper, Corporal Davide Ricchiuto, aged 26, was one of six Italian soldiers killed 17th September 2009, when a suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles in central Kabul.

The blast was so huge that nearby buildings shook.

Cpl. Ricchiuto served with the Italian 186th Parachute Regiment.

The soldier was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

Six Italian soldiers killed in Kabul suicide bomb attack

A suicide car bomb blew up a convoy of Italian military vehicles from the NATO-led force in the Afghan capital Kabul on 17th September 2009. Six Italian soldiers and ten Afghan civlians were killed in the huge blast.

The explosion struck just after midday on a road to Kabul airport, about 1.5 kilometres from the gates of the United States embassy. It destroyed one vehicle used by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF).

The explosion was so big that buildings in the immediate area shook from the blast. In addition to the dead, another four Italian soldiers were wounded in the attack. The Taliban were quick to claim responsibility.

Defense Minister of Italy, Ignazio La Russa said. “It was a cowardly attack on those who have saved many lives.”

The six soldiers killed, all serving with the Italian Parachute Regiment, were:

1. Antonio Fortunato - Lieutenant

2. Roberto Valente - Sergeant

3. Matteo Mureddu - Corporal

4. Giandomenico Pistonami - Corporal

5. Massimiliano Randino - Corporal

6. Davide Ricchiuto - Corporal

Italian paratrooper, Cpl. Alessandro Di Lisio

Cpl. Alessandro Di Lisio

Italian paratrooper, Corporal Alessandro Di Lisio, aged 25, was killed 14th September 2009 by a bomb blast from a land mine placed beside a road about 50 miles northeast of Farah.

A patrol of armoured vehicles was targeted by Taliban insurgents, who detonated the bomb as the vehicle which Cpl. Di Lisio was travelling in, passed by.

He died in a military Field Hospital in Farah.

Cpl. Di Lisio served with the Italian 187th Parachute Regiment.

Polish soldier, Piotr Marciniak, killed in gun battle with Taliban

Pfc. Piotr Marciniak

Polish Private 1st Class, Piotr Marciniak, was killed 11th September 2009 in a fierce gun battle between coalition troops and Taliban militants.

He served with the Polish 6th Airborne Cavalry Brigade. His unit had been sent to support a joint US-Afghan force who were fighting the Taliban, in Ghazni province.

Pfc Marciniak, aged 30, was killed by gunfire.

Journalist Sultan Munadi killed

Afghan journalist, Sultan Munadi has been killed during an operation by British Commandos to rescue hum and British journalist, Stephen Farrell. Both men had been kidnapped and were being held hostage when the rescue mission happened.

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Polish Private 1st Class, Artur Pyc

Artur Pyc

Private 1st Class, Artur Pyc, with the Polish 18th Air Assault Brigade died 9th September 2009 in a military hospital at Lublin, where he had been since May.

Pfc Pyc was seriously injured in eastern Ghazni province a when a roadside bomb exploded under the mine-resistant armored vehicle he was driving.

Reporter, Sultan Munadi

Sultan Munadi

Early morning on 9th September 2009, journalist Sultan Munadi died in a predawn raid by British commandos trying to rescue him and Stephen Farrell, a correspondent for The Times, from Taliban captivity. 

The two men had been kidnapped in northern Afghanistan the previous Saturday while reporting on a NATO bombing that killed scores of people, possibly including many civilians.

Mr. Munadi was killed as he tried to lead Mr. Farrell to safety. 

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Dutch soldier killed by IED

Sgt-Major Mark Leijsen

Mark Leijsen

Sergeant-Major, 101 Engineer Battalion (101 Geniebataljon)

He was deployed with the approximately 1,770 troops from the Netherlands serving with NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Sgt-Maj Leijsen, aged 44, was killed 7 September 2009 by an improvised explosive device near outpost Tabar in Uruzgan province. Three other soldiers and an Afghan translator were wounded when their vehicle struck the roadside bomb about 9 kilometres northwest of the main Dutch base, Camp Holland.

Dutch soldier killed in gunbattle

Kevin van de Rijdt

A Dutch soldier has been killed in a gunbattle in the southern Afghanistan province Uruzgan on Sunday, the defence ministry said.

Kevin van de Rijdt, a 26-year-old corporal, died on 6th September 2009 of gunshot wounds during a skirmish with fighters near Deh Rawood.

Van de Rijdt is the 20th Dutch soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since the Netherlands began its deployment in Uruzgan province in August 2006.

Two French soldiers killed by bomb attack

Sergeant Thomas Rousselle

Nicolas Sarkozy was Friday morning in Winnow in the Morbihan, for the homage ceremony of two French soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Thomas Rousselle, and Corporal Johann Naguin, both of them members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, Navy Marines were killed by a bomb during a patrol to the northeast of Kabul, September 4th, 2009.

The honor Legion was awared to them posthumously during this homage. The two soldiers were equally promoted to a superior rank.

Corporal Johann Naguin

Polish soldier, Marcin Poreba

Sgt Marcin Poręba

Sergeant Marcin Poręba was killed by a home-made IED that went off under an armoured troop carrier as a military convoy was travelling  about two kilometres from the Polish base of Giro on 4th September 2009. 

Five other soldiers were wounded during the explosion. They were immediately treated and taken to a Field Hospital.

Sgt. Marcin Poręba was posthumously awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Military Cross, the Star of Afghanistan and the Star of Iraq.

It was his second mission abroad. He served in 5 Engineering Regiment in Szczecin. He leaves a wife and a son.

Sgt. Poręba was buried in his home town of Szczecyn.