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.

Seven German soldiers killed in helicopter crash

Seven German soldiers were killed on 21st December 2002 when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a suburb of Kabul.

According to witnesses, the Sikorsky helicopter nose-dived out of the sky with flames coming from the engine.

It is thought that the crash was an accident, possibly caused by a technical fault, rather than the result of terrorist or enemy fire.

The seven dead soldiers were:

Captain Friedrich Deininger, age 53, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment

Lieutenant Uwe Vierling, age 31, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment

Sergeant Frank Erlich, age 29, serving with the Luftwaffe

Sergeant Heinz-Ullrich Hewusst, age 41, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment

Sergeant Thomas Schiebel, age 28, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment

Sergeant Bernhard Kaiser, age 46, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment

Private Enrico Schmidt, age 24, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment

Two British soldiers dead in Kabul incident

Two British soldiers have died following an incident in Kabul on 17 August 2002.

Sergeant Robert Busuttil and Corporal John Gregory, both aged thirty, died from gunshot wounds at the British base at Kabul International Airport, on 17 August 2002. Both men served with the Royal Logistic Corps. Their next of kin have been informed. Colleagues in Kabul held a service of remembrance for them on 18 August 2002.

A full investigation into the circumstances of the deaths was conducted by the Royal Military Police and completed in January 2003. The investigation found that the men did not die as a result of hostile enemy action. 

Robert Busuttil

John Gregory

British Private, Darren George

Private Darren John George from the Royal Anglian Regiment, serving with the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, has died after a tragic incident during a patrol on Tuesday, 9 April 2002.

The incident occurred during a security patrol in the Afghan capital, and was the subject of a full inquiry to establish the exact circumstances. However, hostile action was not a factor.

Five bomb disposal troops killed in explosion

Five NATO Bomb-disposal engineers were killed on 6th March 2002 while they were defusing a Soviet-made ground-to-air missile near Kabul, Afghanistan. The missile exploded as the engineers worked on it.

The engineers included two German Army Sergeants: Oberfeldwebel Mike Rubel (27) and Oberfeldwebel Thomas Knochert (29).

Also, three Danish personnel serving with the Danish Army Royal Engineers died: Sergeant Thomas Butzkowsky (26), Lance-Corporal Brian Andersen (26) and Lance-Corporal Kim Carlsen (35).

Australian SAS Sergeant Andrew Russell

SAS Sgt. Russell

Thirty-three-year-old Sergeant Andrew Russell, from the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment, has been killed in action in Afghanistan. 

Sgt. Russell suffered fatal wounds on 16th February, 2002 when the long-range patrol vehicle in which he was travelling struck a suspected anti-vehicle mine.

He was one of five Australian personnel travelling in the vehicle, but was the only person wounded in the explosion.

Combat Search and Rescue helicopters were launched from Kandahar 13 minutes after the task group headquarters was notified of the incident at 11.58pm Australian Eastern Summer Time.

Despite the efforts of a three-member US military rescue team, who parachuted into the scene to stabilise him in preparation for evacuation by helicopter, he was pronounced dead after arriving at a United States medical facility in Kandahar.

Sweden mourns killed journalist

Colleagues have been paying tribute to a Swedish cameraman shot dead by gunmen during an armed robbery in northern Afghanistan.

Ulf Stromberg, 42, a cameraman for Sweden's TV4, was shot at a house in Taloqan. He was the eighth journalist killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the U.S.-led military campaign.

"Ulf was a perfectionist but now I think of him, above all, in his role as a father," Jan Scherman, programme director at TV4, told Reuters. Stromberg was married and the father of three small children.

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TV cameraman, Ulf Stromberg

Ulf Stromberg

Ulf Stromberg, 42, a cameraman for Sweden's TV4, was shot at a house in Taloqan. He was the eighth journalist killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the U.S.-led military campaign.

"Ulf was a perfectionist but now I think of him, above all, in his role as a father," Jan Scherman, programme director at TV4, told Reuters. Stromberg was married and the father of three small children.

Journalist, Julio Fuentes

Julio Fuentes

Julio Fuentes, a journalist with Spain's El Mundo, was murdered along the road between Jalalabah (Nangarhar province) and Kabul, with Maria Grazia Cutuli, special correspondent of the Italian daily Corriere della Serra, Harry Burton, an Australian cameraman for Reuters news agency Video News, and Azizullah Haidari, an Afghan photographer for Reuters.

On 19th November 2001, six gunmen stopped their eight-vehicle press convoy two hours after it left for Kabul at Tangi Abrishum bridge, 90 km east of Kabul. They ordered the journalists to follow them up a nearby hill and hit and stoned them when they refused.

They then shot Cutuli and another journalist and killed the other two soon afterwards. Their bodies were taken Jalalabah hospital next day and identified by colleagues.

Journalist, Maria Grazia Cutulli

Maria Grazia Cutulli

Italian journalist, Maria Grazia Cutulli, was kidnapped by the Taliban and later murdered along with three other journalists.

She had arrived in Afghanistan in September 2001 to cover the ongoing conflict there, working for Italy's Corriere della Sera. On November of that year he was riding in a Jeep from Jalalabad to Kabul, just a few days after the Taliban fell, when his convoy was stopped and passengers ordered to get out.

She was killed with three other journalists, Julio Fuentes of the Spanish paper El Mundo, Azizullah Haidari of Reuters, and Harry Burton of Reuters. Their mutilated bodies were found on 19th November.

Journalist, Azizullah Haidari

Azizullah Haidari

Pakistani journalist and cameraman, Azizullah Haidari, was kidnapped by the Taliban and later murdered along with three other journalists.

The 33 year old experienced journalist moved to Afghanistan to cover the ongoing conflict there, working for Reuters at the time. On November of that year he was riding in a Jeep from Jalalabad to Kabul, just a few days after the Taliban fell, when his convoy was stopped and passengers ordered to get out.

He was killed with three other journalists, Julio Fuentes of the Spanish paper El Mundo, Azizullah Haidari of Reuters, and Maria Grazia Cutulli of Italy's Corriere della Sera. Their mutilated bodies were found on 19th November.

Journalist, Harry Burton

Harry Burton

Australian journalist and cameraman, Harry Burton, was kidnapped by the Taliban and later murdered on along with three other journalists.

He moved to Afghanistan in 2001 to cover the ongoing conflict there, working for Reuters at the time. On November of that year he was riding in a Jeep from Jalalabad to Kabul, just a few days after the Taliban fell, when his convoy was stopped and passengers ordered to get out.

He was killed with three other journalists, Julio Fuentes of the Spanish paper El Mundo, Azizullah Haidari of Reuters, and Maria Grazia Cutulli of Italy's Corriere della Sera. Their mutilated bodies were found on 19th November.

Journalist, Johanne Sutton

Johanne Sutton

Johanne Sutton, a reporter for Radio France Internationale was killed on the evening of 11th November 2001, when Taliban forces fired on a Northern Alliance military convoy.

She was among a group of journalists who were riding with Northern Alliance soldiers in an armored personnel carrier (APC). The soldiers were advancing toward Taliban positions near the city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar Province and the alliance's former headquarters.

Taliban forces opened fire on the convoy and hit the APC carrying the journalists with a rocket-propelled grenade. The jolt from the grenade's impact caused some people to fall off the tank while others may have jumped off. It was unclear whether the journalists who died were killed in the cross fire, or whether Taliban soldiers later executed at least two of them.

Journalist, Volke Handloik

Volker Handloik, a German freelance reporter for Die Stern, was killed 11th November 2001, in a Taliban ambush of a Northern Alliance military column near Shatarai (northern Afghanistan), with Radio France International (RFI) senior reporter Johanne Sutton and Pierre Billaud, a correspondent for Radio TV Luxembourg.

Over 100 fighters were killed that night in the same valley.

Four other journalists, including Véronique Rebeyrotte, of the radio station France Culture, and Levon Sevunts, of Canada’s Montreal Gazette, were in the same vehicle but escaped.

Journalist, Pierre Billaud

Pierre Billaud

Pierre Billaud, special correspondent with Radio-Télévision Luxembourg (RTL), was killed 11th November 2001, in a Taliban ambush of a Northern Alliance military column near Shatarai (northern Afghanistan), with Radio France International (RFI) senior reporter Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik, a freelance for the German weekly Die Stern.

Over 100 fighters were killed that night in the same valley.

Four other journalists, including Véronique Rebeyrotte, of the radio station France Culture, and Levon Sevunts, of Canada’s Montreal Gazette, were in the same vehicle but escaped.