Dutch Army Sgt. Major Jos Leunissen

Dutch Army Sergeant-Major Jos Leunissen, aged 44, was killed in action on 18th June 2007 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents. The battle took place near the town of Chora in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.

Sgt. Major Leunissen served with the elite 11th Airmobile Brigade.

Dutch Army Pfc. Timo Smeehuijzen

Dutch Army Private 1st Class, Timo Smeehuijzen was killed on 15th June 2007 while on patrol in the city of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province.

The soldier died from the blast of a car bomb that detonated beside him. Five Afghan children also died in the incident.

Pfc. Smeehuijzen, aged 20, was serving with the 42nd Infantry Battalion.

Reporter, Ajmal Naqshbandi

Ajmal Naqshbandi

The Taleban killed Afghan reporter, Ajmal Naqshbandi, who was abducted in May with an Italian journalist, on 4th June 2007. 

The group said it had killed Ajmal Naqshbandi because the government had refused to meet its demands to release senior figures from prison. 

Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo was released after five Taleban members were freed in exchange. The driver, Sayed Agha, was beheaded last month.

Accident kills Spanish soldier

Sgt. Juan Sanchez

Sergeant Juan Antonio Abril Sánchez (31), a married man from Zaragoza, died while on patrol in Qades on 26 May 2007, when the VAMTAC all-terrain vehicle in which he was travelling, overturned accidentally.

Two other soldiers were slightly injured while a fourth escaped unhurt.

The accident occurred at 12.40pm (local time) in the Qades district of Bagdhis province, around 25km north of the Spanish provincial construction team base (PRT) in Qala i Naw.

Finnish soldier, Sgt Petri Immonen, killed by roadside bomb

Finnish Border Guard, Sergeant Petri Tapio Immonen, 29,was killed 23rd May 2007 when a roadside bomb detonated near a patrol escorting members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Maymaneh in northern Afghanistan.

German Army Sergeant Michael Diebel

German Army Sergeant Michael Diebel, age 28, was one of three German military personnel killed on 19th May 2007 in Kunduz, Afghanistan from the blast of a suicide bomber.

Sgt. Diebel was attached to the Army Supply Depot in Darmstadt.

German Sergeant Michael Neumann

German Sergeant Michael Neumann, age 48, was one of three German military personnel killed on 19th May 2007 in Kunduz, Afghanistan from the blast of a suicide bomber.

Sgt. Neumann was attached to the Marine Arsenal in Kiel.

German Captain Matthias Standfuss

German Army Captain Matthias Standfuss, age 31, was one of three German military personnel killed on 19th May 2007 in Kunduz, Afghanistan from the blast of a suicide bomber.

Capt. Standfuss was attached to the Defence Ministry in Bonn.

Czech soldier, Staff Sgt. Nikolaj Martynov

Staff Sergeant Nikolaj Martynov, 28, was involved in a vehicle accident south east of Fajzabad. After initial treatment he was evacuated to the military hospital in Prague, where he lost his fight on 3rd May 2007.

Four other soldiers were slightly injured when the four vehicle patrol from the 43rd Airborne Mechanized BN, 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade, were involved in a landslide due to torrential rain.

Dutch Paratrooper, Corporal Cor Strik

Dutch Paratrooper, Corporal Cor Strik was killed in Helmand province on 20th April 2007 after stepping on a land mine while on a routine foot patrol.

Cpl. Strik, aged 21, was serving with the elite 11th Airmobile Brigade.

Italian intelligence agent, Lorenzo D'Auria

WO D'Auria

Italian intelligence agent, Warrant Officer Lorenzo D'Auria, aged 33, who was critically injured in Afghanistan during a commando raid which freed him from kidnappers, died on 10th April 2007.

WO D'Auria suffered severe injuries to the head and neck during a raid by British and Italian special forces on 24th September last year. It remains unclear whether he was shot by his captors or in friendly fire.

D'Auria, who was rushed back to Italy, was put on a life support system at Rome's Celio military hospital. Sadly he died from his injuries.

The SISMI intelligence agent, along with a fellow agent and their Afghan

interpreter, was taken hostage on 23rd September by bandits believed to be linked to the Taliban.

The second agent and the interpreter were also injured in the rescue mission but their wounds were not life-threatening. All eight of the kidnappers were killed in the raid as was the agents' Afghan driver, while the NATO forces suffered no casualties.

Dutch Army Sergeant Robert Donkers

Dutch Army Sergeant 1st Class Robert Donkers, aged 33, was killed on 6th April 2007 in a tragic accident near Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.

The patrol vehicle he was in left the road and ended up in a river bed trapping Sgt. Donkers.

Amazingly, he was still alive when rescuers pulled him out. Sadly he died later at a military hospital in Afghanistan.

British Commandos killed 2006-2007

During 2006 and 2007 the British Commando units suffered a total of 12 fatalities as follows:

4 - 29 Commando Royal Artillery

4 - 42 Commando Royal Marines

4 - 45 Commando Royal Marines

08 Mar 2007 - Michael Smith, 29 Commando Royal Artillery

After almost 22 years of military service, WO2 Michael 'Mick' Smith, aged 39, died from injuries sustained when a grenade was fired at the UK base in Sangin, Helmand Province.

06 Mar 2007 - Benjamin Reddy, 42 Commando Royal Marines

Marine Reddy, aged 22, was killed when his unit came under fire during a deliberate clearance operation in the Kajaki area of Helmand Province.

03 Mar 2007 - Liam McLaughlin, 29 Commando Royal Artillery

Killed alongside Ross Clark, who were friends and colleagues, died during a rocket attack in the Sangin area of Helmand.  Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, known simply as 'Paddy' to all who served with him, was born on 17 December 1985, and was brought up in Lancashire. He enlisted in the Army in September 2002, spending a year at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate before joining 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery in November 2003.

03 Mar 2007 - Ross Clark, 29 Commando Royal Artillery

Killed alongside Liam McLaughlin, who were friends and colleagues, died during a rocket attack in the Sangin area of Helmand.  Born in Zimbabwe on 18 July 1981, Lance Bombardier Ross Clark was brought up in South Africa before joining the British Army in April 2002.

22 Feb 2007 - Scott Summers, 42 Commando Royal Marines

Involved in a traffic accident that occurred when Marine Summers was driving a Pinzgauer vehicle as part of a routine convoy in Helmand province on 4 February 2007.

21 Feb 2007 - Jonathan Holland, 45 Commando Royal Marines

Marine Holland died as a result of injuries sustained from a mine strike, while on a routine patrol in the Sangin Valley, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

15 Jan 2007 - Mathew Ford, 45 Commando Royal Marines

Lance Corporal Ford died when elements of 45 Commando Royal Marines were engaged in a deliberate offensive operation to the south of Garmsir in southern Helmand.

The Royal Marine Commandos were attacking a major Taliban fort. This entailed them crossing a river, assaulting a walled compound and engaging in close quarter fighting. It was during the initial breach of the compound that Lance Corporal Ford was shot and killed instantly.

13 Jan 2007 - Thomas Curry, 42 Commando Royal Marines

Marine Curry died when elements of 42 Commando Royal Marines were engaged in a deliberate offensive operation near Kajaki, in Northern Helmand.

The Royal Marines Commandos were engaged in close-quarter fighting with the Taleban, and it was during this action that Marine Curry was killed. He died instantly as a result of enemy small arms fire.

27 Dec 2006 - James Dwyer, 29 Commando Royal Artillery

Lance Bombardier Dwyer, aged 22, was killed when the vehicle he was driving struck an anti-tank mine whilst on a patrol in southern Helmand.

12 Dec 2006 - Richard Watson, 42 Commando Royal Marines

Elements from the UK Task Force were patrolling to the north of Now Zad, a district in the North of Helmand, when they came under attack from Taliban forces.

During the contact Marine Watson was hit by small arms fire and fatally wounded. An emergency quick reaction helicopter along with a full medical team was immediately dispatched to Now Zad. Marine Watson was then evacuated to the UK hospital at Camp Bastion, where he was sadly pronounced dead. No other servicemen were injured.

05 Dec 2006 - Jonathan Wigley, 45 Commando Royal Marines

Marine Wigley died as a result of injuries sustained while on an Afghan and UK Task Force force operation on the outskirts of the village of Garmsir, to dislodge Taliban forces who had been responsible for attacks on the town in recent days. He was airlifted to a UK hospital in Camp Bastion, where he sadly later died from his wounds.

18 Oct 2006 - Gary Wright, 45 Commando Royal Marines

Marine Gary Wright died as a result of injuries sustained when a suicide-borne improvised explosive device detonated next to the vehicle in which he was patrolling in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province.

Korean Sergeant Yoon Jang-ho

Sergeant Yoon Jang-ho

Sergeant Yoon Jang-ho, aged 27, of Korea's Dasan Engineering Unit in Afghanistan was killed by a suicide bomber on 27th February 2007. He only had two months left of his tour. 

He was the first Korean soldier to have been killed in a terror attack overseas since the Vietnam War. 

Sgt. Yoon, who went to study in the U.S. at middle school age, was remembered as saying the only way to fulfill his obligation to his hardworking parents was to study hard. 

At university in the U.S., he earned his upkeep by working as a waiter. He returned home on graduation to fulfill his mandatory military service. There, he volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, from where he regularly sent some of his pay to his parents.

Female Spanish soldier, Idoia Bujan, killed by IED

Idoia Rodríguez Buján

A female Spanish soldier has been killed in a blast near Shindand, Herat province. She is the first Spanish fatality in 2007. She also becomes the first woman Spanish soldier to lose her life while on a peace mission.

She is 23 year old Idoia Rodríguez Buján from Lugo, and was with the Light Air Transport Brigade – BRILAT - , based in Figueirido, Pontevedra, which has more than 300 women assigned to it.

She was travelling in a convoy of five armoured ambulances which was hit by a powerful mine blast on 21st February.