Two Dutch Marines killed

Two Dutch Marines were killed by insurgents in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, on 17th April 2010, the Netherlands Defence Ministry has announced. Another Marine was severely wounded in the deadly attack.

The two Marines who died are Corporal Jeroen Houweling (29yo) and Marine Marc Harders (23yo). Both were with the Dutch 1st Marine Corps.  

Corporal Jeroen Houweling (left) and Marine Marc Harders

The latest deaths bring Dutch military casualties in the Afghan conflict to 23 dead. The Netherlands has a force in Afghanistan of about 2,000 troops, who are due to be withdrawn by the end of 2010.

German Army Sergeant, Josef Kronawitter

German Army Master Sergeant, Josef Kronawitter, aged 24, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Thomas Broer, Major Jorn Radloff and Sergeant Marius Dubnicki.

German Army Sergeant, Marius Dubnicki

Marius Dubnicki

German Army Master Sergeant, Marius Dubnicki, aged 32, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Thomas Broer, Major Jorn Radloff and Sergeant Josef Kronawitter.

German Army officer, Major Jörn Radloff

Major Jörn Radloff

German Army officer, Major Jörn Radloff, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Thomas Broer, Sergeant Marius Dubnicki and Sergeant Josef Kronawitter.

German Army officer, Major Thomas Broer

Major Thomas Broer

German Army officer, Major Thomas Broer, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Jorn Radloff, Sergeant Marius Dubnicki and Sergeant Josef Kronawitter.

French Foreign Legionnaire killed in action

A legionnaire from the 2nd REP was killed on 8th of April 2010 in Afghanistan. His unit was engaged in support of the Afghan National Army, as part of building a post (COP) in the region Tagab in Kapissa when they were attacked by insurgents. The wounded legionnaire was evacuated to Kabul military hospital, but it did not survive his injuries.

Legionnaire, Robert Hutnik

The death brings to 41 the number of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan, including 21 in clashes.
The 1st Class Legionnaire is Robert Hutnik, 23, single, originally from Slovakia. He enlisted in the Foreign Legion in May 2007 and after the basic training he joined the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment. Afghanistan, where he served as a driver of VAB, was his second mission, after a stay in Gabon. He was assigned to 3rd Company, specializing in amphibious combat.

Stabsgefreiter Robert Hartert

25yo German Army Senior Corporal Robert Hartert was killed in action on 2nd April 2010 when insurgent forces attacked his unit with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

The incident happened in Chahar Darreh district of Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Cpl. Hartert, serving with 373 Parachute Regiment, had been in the German military since 2006.

He leaves behind his girlfriend and family.

Hauptgefreiter Martin Augustyniak

28yo German Army Corporal Martin Augustyniak was killed in action on 2nd April 2010 when insurgent forces attacked his unit with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

The incident happened in Chahar Darreh district of Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Cpl. Augustyniak, serving with 373 Parachute Regiment, had been in the German military since 2008.

He leaves a wife and three year old son Remo.

Hauptfeldwebel Nils Bruns

35yo German Army Master Sergeant Nils Bruns was killed in action on 2nd April 2010 when insurgent forces attacked his unit with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

The incident happened in Chahar Darreh district of Kunduz, Afghanistan.

MSgt. Bruns, serving with 373 Parachute Regiment, had been in the German military since 1998 and became a paratrooper in 2006.

He leaves a wife and two year old daughter.