Five Aid Workers shot Badghis Province

Five Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) staff were killed 2nd June 2004 while traveling on the road between Khairkhana and Qala-I-Naw in Badghis province.

They were: Hélène de Beir, Belgian national, Project Coordinator; Willem Kwint, Dutch national, Logistician; Egil Tynaes, Norwegian national, Medical Doctor; Fasil Ahmad, Afghan national, Translator; Besmillah, Afghan national, Driver.

L-R: Helene, Willem, Egil, Fasil, Besmillah

Statement by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reads: They departed from Khairkhana at 1500 hours in a Toyota Landcruiser. Radio contact should have been established at 1545 hours, but this contact was not established. Two cars were sent to check for the vehicle, one departing from Khairkhana, the second from Qala-I-Naw. The vehicle was located at approximately 1720, about 25 minutes from Khairkhana in the direction of Qala-I-Naw. 

Initial reports from local elders suggested a tragedy had occurred. Through the efforts of the local community the vehicle was brought back to the MSF compound in Khairkhana. The vehicle was back in the compound by 1945 hours and the remaining four expatriate team members and our national staff team confirmed the shooting of our five colleagues.

The condition of the vehicle was described as having been shot through the front windscreen, through the front passenger window, and through the back windscreen. There was also shrapnel embedded in the side of the vehicle, indicating a grenade had been detonated.

It is impossible for us to give any further details as we simply don't know anything more about what happened. Nor do we know who is behind the killings or the motives for it.

Norwegian Grenadier, Tommy Roedningsby

Grenadier, Tommy Roedningsby

Norwegian Grenadier, Tommy Roedningsby, aged 29, was killed on 23rd May 2004 after Taliban insurgents ambushed a convoy of four vehicles.

The insurgents opened fire with rocket propelled grenades and small arms. One of three RPG shells fired missed the convoy. Another landed without detonating. The third shell, however, hit the rear of an unarmoured Merceded field vehicle fatally wounding Grenadier Roedningsby.

The incident happened in Kabul.

Australian helicopter pilot, Captain Mark Burdorf

45-year-old Australian helicopter pilot Captain Mark Burdorf, from Adelaide, was killed in an attack in southern Afghanistan when a helicopter he was operating for US construction company Louis Berger Group came under fire from Taliban insurgents on the ground.

The incident occurred in Panjway, about 50km from Kandahar.

Two passengers on the helicopter were also believed to have been injured.

French aid worker, Bettina Goislard shot dead

Bettina Goislard

Bettina Goislard (11 November 1974 - 16 November 2003) was a French employee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), assigned to its mission in Afghanistan.

She was involved in the UNHCR's efforts to help about 50,000 displaced Afghan refugees return to their homes in and around the city of Ghazni.

On 16 November 2003, while driving through the streets of Ghazni in a clearly identified UNHCR vehicle, she was shot at point-blank range by two men on a motorcycle. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital some minutes later. Her two assailants were caught and beaten by a local crowd, and then taken into custody by local security forces.

On 18 November, the Taliban claimed responsibility for her murder, citing Goislard's Christianity as their motivation. Two days later, in accordance with her wishes, Bettina Goislard was buried in Kabul.

Romanian Sergeant-Major Mihail Anton Samuilă

Mihail Anton Samuilă

Sergeant-Major Mihail Anton Samuilă, aged 35, died on 14th November 2003, after sustaining serious injuries when the Army convoy he was in was ambushed by Taliban insurgents on 11th November. The insurgents opened fire with machineguns and rocket propelled grenades.

The incident happened near the town of Spin Boldak.

Sgt-Maj Samuilă served with the 151st Infantry Battalion 'Razboieni', also known as the 'Black Wolves'.

Another Romanian soldier, Sergeant Major Iosif-Silviu Fogorasi was killed in the same attack. Both men were posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Romanian Sergeant-Major Iosif-Silviu Fogorasi

Iosif-Silviu Fogorasi

Sergeant Major Iosif-Silviu Fogorasi, aged 33, was killed on 11th November 2003, when Taliban insurgents ambushed a Romanian Army convoy. The insurgents opened fire with machineguns and rocket propelled grenades.

The incident happened near the town of Spin Boldak.

Sgt-Maj Fogorasi served with the 151st Infantry Battalion 'Razboieni', also known as the 'Black Wolves'.

Another Romanian soldier, Sergeant-Major Mihail Anton Samuilă, was critically injured in the attack and later died from his wounds. Both men were posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

US Army Reserve Spc. Lisa Andrews

US Army Reserve Specialist Lisa M. Andrews, aged 24, from Lenexa, Kansas., died on 26th September 2003 near Overland Park, Kansas. Spc. Andrews was on leave from her unit in Afghanistan when she was struck and killed by a civilian vehicle as she was walking across U.S. Highway 69.

She was assigned to the 129th Transportation Company, U.S. Army Reserve, based in New Century, Kansas.

Oberfahnrich Andreas Beljo

On 6th July 2003, a German Army Signals unit was at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Training Centre in Kabul. A car driven by an Afghan insurgent drove at speed at the compound and blew up - a suicide bomb attack.

 

Four German military personnel were killed by the blast including 28-year-old Oberfahnrich Andreas Beljo, serving with 940 Signals, German Army.

The soldiers had no chance to avoid the suicide bomber and ultimately gave their lives.

Feldwebel Helmi Jimenez-Paradis

On 6th July 2003, a German Army Signals unit was at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Training Centre in Kabul. A car driven by an Afghan insurgent drove at speed at the compound and blew up - a suicide bomb attack.

 

Four German military personnel were killed by the blast including Sergeant Helmi Jimenez-Paradis serving with 320 Signals, German Army.

The soldiers had no chance to avoid the suicide bomber and ultimately gave their lives.

Stabsunteroffizier Joerg Baasch

On 6th July 2003, a German Army Signals unit was at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Training Centre in Kabul. A car driven by an Afghan insurgent drove at speed at the compound and blew up - a suicide bomb attack.

 

Four German military personnel were killed by the blast including Sergeant Joerg Baasch, serving with 940 Signals, German Army.

The soldiers had no chance to avoid the suicide bomber and ultimately gave their lives.

German Army Oberfeldwebel Carsten Kuehlmorgen

On 6th July 2003, a German Army Signals unit was at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Training Centre in Kabul. A car driven by an Afghan insurgent drove at speed at the compound and blew up - a suicide bomb attack.

Four German military personnel were killed by the blast including 32-year-old Sergeant Carsten Kuehlmorgen, serving with 320 Signals, German Army.

The soldiers had no chance to avoid the suicide bomber and ultimately gave their lives.

German Stabsgefreiter Stefan Kamins

German Army Stabsgefreiter Stefan Kamins, age 24, was killed on 29th May 2003 in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was driving an armoured vehicle near the German military camp when a hidden road mine exploded beneath his vehicle.

Stabsgefreiter Kamins, serving with the German Army Information Unit, died from the blast.

Luftwaffe Major Alexander Hofert

German Air Force Major Alexander Julius Hofert, age 33, died in Kabul, Afghanistan on 17th May 2003.

Major Hofert, stationed at the German military camp in Kabul, served with Jagdbombergeschwader 33 (Fighter Bomber Wing) of the Luftwaffe.

The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear but some reports suggest he was killed by a suicide bomber.

Red Cross aid worker killed in Kandahar

International Red Cross staff member Ricardo Munguia was shot and killed in an ambush north of Kandahar City 24th March 2003.

A water supply engineer, Ricardo Munguía was a citizen of both Switzerland and El Salvador. He joined the International Committee of the Red Cross 1999.

He was fatally shot on March 27, 2003, by gunmen while on assignment with several Afghan colleagues in Oruzgan province, although another account placed the incident at a Taliban checkpoint in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar. He was 39.

This marked the first murder of a foreign aid worker in Afghanistan in at least five years. Munguía's murder sparked concerns that security issues would prevent aid workers from reaching more of Afghanistan's most vulnerable people.

According to eyewitness Abdul Salam, after stopping Munguía and his three-vehicle convoy, gunmen made a satellite telephone call to Mullah Dadullah. When the conversation ended the gunmen shoved Munguía behind one of the vehicles, siphoned gasoline from the tanks and used it to set the vehicles on fire. Munguía was then executed, reportedly hit by more than 20 bullets.

South Korean army officer shot by fellow officer

Seoul: A South Korean army major on peacekeeping duties in Afghanistan accidentally shot dead a junior officer in an row over his telephone manner on Tuesday 28th January 2003, the Defense Ministry said.

Major Lee Kyu-sang, 37, fired at Captain Kim Hyo-sung, 33, in their barracks near Bagram Air Base north of the capital, Kabul, when the captain refused an order to speak quietly on the telephone while Lee was discussing the leasing of construction equipment with some Afghans, the spokesman said.

"It looks as if the major didn't know his gun was loaded and shot the captain by mistake," he said.

The major was immediately arrested, escorted home and referred to a court martial, he said. "We've sent an investigator to carry out further inquiries," the spokesman said.