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.

UK Military fatalities 2002-2006

UNITED KINGDOM 2002-2006

This is a complete list of British military fatalities from 2002 to end 2006.

If a name is highlighted in blue, click to read details of the incident.

Date	NAME	RANK	AGE	UNIT	CAUSE
2006
27-Dec	Dwyer, James	Bombardier	29	29 Commando Royal Artillery	IED attack
12-Dec	Watson, Richard J.	Marine	42	42 Commando Royal Marines	Hostile fire
05-Dec	Wigley, Jonathan	Marine	21	45 Commando Royal Marines	Hostile fire
18-Oct	Wright, Gary	Marine	22	45 Commando Royal Marines	Hostile fire
06-Sep	McCulloch, Luke	L-Corporal	21	1st Royal Irish Regiment	Hostile fire
06-Sep	Muirhead, Paul	L-Corporal	29	1st Royal Irish Regiment	Hostile fire
06-Sep	Wright, Mark William	Corporal	25	3 Parachute Regiment	Land mine
04-Sep	O’Donnell, Craig	Private	24	5 Royal Regiment of Scotland	Suicide bomb
02-Sep	Bell, Gerard Martin	Sergeant	48	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Johnson, Steven	Lieutenant	38	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Mitchelmore, Leigh	Lieutenant	28	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Nicholas, Gareth	Lieutenant	40	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Squires, Allan James	Lieutenant	39	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Swarbrick, Steven	Flt Lt (pilot)	28	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Andrews, Gary Wayne	Sergeant	48	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Beattie, Stephen	Sergeant	42	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Knight, Benjamin	Sergeant	25	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Langton, John	Sergeant	29	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Quilliam, Gary Paul	Sergeant	42	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
02-Sep	Windall, Joseph David	Marine	22	Royal Marines	Plane crash
02-Sep	Dicketts, Oliver Simon	L-Corporal	27	Parachute Regiment	Plane crash
02-Sep	Davies, Adrian	Sergeant	49	120 Sqn. Royal Air Force	Plane crash
01-Sep	Draiva, Anare	Ranger	27	1 Royal Irish Regiment	Hostile fire
27-Aug	Hetherington, Jonathan	L-Corporal	22	14 Signal Regiment	Hostile fire
20-Aug	Budd, Bryan James	Corporal	29	3 Parachute Regiment	Hostile fire
12-Aug	Tansey, Sean	L-Corporal	26	The Life Guards	Accident
09-Aug	Reeves, Leigh	Private	25	Royal Logistic Corps	Accident
06-Aug	Cutts, Andrew	Private	20	13 Air Assault Support	Hostile fire
01-Aug	Eida, Alex	Captain	29	Royal Horse Artillery	RPG attack
01-Aug	Nicholls, Ross	L-Corporal	27	Household Cavalry	RPG attack
01-Aug	Johnson, Ralph	Lieutenant	24	Household Cavalry	RPG attack
05-Jul	Jackson, Damien	Private	20	3rd Parachute Battlegroup	Hostile fire
01-Jul	Thorpe, Peter	Corporal	28	3rd Parachute Battlegroup	Hostile fire
01-Jul	Hashmi, Jabron	L-Corporal	25	Intelligence Corps	Hostile fire
27-Jun	Bartlett, Paul	Sergeant	36	Royal Marines	Hostile fire
27-Jun	Patten, David	Captain	39	Parachute Regiment	Hostile fire
12-Jun	Philippson, Jim	Captain	29	7 Parachute Royal Artillery	Hostile fire
27-Mar	Craddock, Peter	L-Corporal		1st Royal Light Infantry	Accident
22-Mar	Cridge, Mark	Corporal	25	Royal Corps of Signals	Unknown
2005
29-Oct	Sherwood, Steven	L-Corporal	23	1st Royal Light Infantry	Hostile fire
2004
28-Jan	Kitulagoda, Jonathan	Private	23	The Rifle Volunteers, TA	Suicide bomb
2002
17-Aug	Busuttil, Robert	Sergeant	30	Royal Logistics Corps	Homicide
17-Aug	Gregory, John	Corporal	30	Royal Logistics Corps	Suicide
04-Sep	George, Darren	L-Corporal	22	1st Royal Anglian	Accident

German Army Sergeant Christian Kopp

German Army Sergeant Christian Kopp, age 24, was killed on 17th December 2006 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Sgt. Kopp, serving with Panzer Training Battalion, died in a traffic accident.

Dutch Army Sergeant Dijkstra

Sergeant Dijkstra, serving with the Royal Netherlands Army in Afghanistan, committed suicide on 11th October 2006. We have no further details about this incident.

Journalist, Karen Fischer

Karen Fischer

Karen Fischer, a German freelance journalist, was shot dead with her partner, Christian Struwe, while they slept in a tent beside a road in Baghlan province.

Ms. Fischer, aged 30, and a former student in the School of Journalism, was working as a freelance journalist for Deutsche Welle, the German state-run broadcasting company. She and Struwe were killed by gunmen weilding AK-47s, according to news reports over the weekend.

Authorities are being urged to waste no time in establishing who killed the journalists.

Click here for full report

Italian Army Corporal Vincenzo Cardella

Vincenzo Cardella

Italian Army Corporal Vincenzo Cardella, aged 24, died on 30th September 2006 from wounds he received in a roadside bomb blast four days previously.

The incident happened 10km south of Kabul when an Italian military convoy was on the road. A bomb was remotely detonated and killed one Italian soldier outright, injuring five other soldiers and killing an Afghan child who was in a car behind the convoy.

Cpl. Cardella was evacuated to a French Military hospital and later airlifted to Italy. Surgeons were unable to save his life. 

He served with Italy's 2nd Alpine Regiment.

Italian Army Corporal Giorgio Langella

Cpl. Langella

Italian Army Corporal Giorgio Langella, aged 31, was killed on 26th September 2006 from wounds received by a roadside bomb blast.

The incident happened 10km south of Kabul when an Italian military convoy was on the road. A bomb was remotely detonated killing Cpl. Langella and injuring five other soldiers. An Afghan child who was in a car behind the convoy also died in the attack.

Cpl. Langella served with Italy's 2nd Alpine Regiment.

Italian soldier, Giuseppe Orlando

Giuseppe Orlando

Italian Corporal Major Giuseppe Orlando, aged 28, died 21st September 2006 in Kabul, Afghanistan, as a result of an accident that wounded two fellow soldiers.

Cpl. Orlando was in an armoured vehicle on a routine patrol when the avehicle in which the three were traveling rolled over while making a sharp turn because of a landslip in the land. He was a machine gunner riding in the top turret and was exposed. He died from his injuries.

The soldiers involved were members of the 22nd Company, 2nd Alpine Regiment, a component of the Battle Group 3.

RAF Nimrod aircraft crashes killing 14

Fourteen British military personnel have died after a Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 aircraft crashed in Afghanistan on Saturday 2nd September 2006.

The Nimrod exploded in mid-air near Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, shortly after air-to-air refuelling. The crew and passengers were on a mission to support Nato and Afghan forces in an operation against the Taliban in Helmand. 

The 14 crew members

The crew and passengers onboard were:

1. Allan Squires, Fl. Lieutentant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
2. Benjamin Knight, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
3. Gareth Nicholas, Fl. Lieutenant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
4. Gary Andrews, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
5. Adrian Davies, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
6. Gary Quilliam, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
7. Gerard Bell, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
8. John Langton, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
9. Joseph Windall, Marine, Royal Marines
10. Leigh Mitchelmore, Fl. Lieutenant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
11. Oliver Dicketts, L-Corporal, Parachute Regiment
12. Stephen Beattie, Sergeant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
13. Steve Johnson, Fl. Lieutenant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force
14. Steve Swarbrick, Fl. Lieutenant, 120 Sqn Royal Air Force

Dutch F-16 pilot, Captain Michael Donkervoort

Dutch Air Force F-16 pilot, Captain Michael Donkervoort, was killed on 31 August 2006 in a mysterious crash over mountainous terrain in Afghanistan.

He had taken off from Kabul International Airport as the leader of a formation of two. After join-up and climbout, the two jets headed southwest toward their intended mission area, cruising at Flight Level 320 (32,000 ft above sea level) and a relatively slow speed of 280 kts.

About four minutes after crossing the path of a commercial airliner (that was flying 1,000 ft higher than the two fighters) the pilot of the lead F-16, Captain Michael Donkervoort, suddenly made a mayday call.

His wingman, flying approximately 2 nmi away in line-abreast formation, saw Donkervoort's F-16 pitch down while starting a continuous right roll. Without any further communication from its pilot, the jet impacted the 10,000-ft high mountains 30 seconds later, in a near vertical attitude (80 degrees nose down and 120 degrees right bank) at very high speed (approximately Mach 1.2). Capt. Donkervoort was killed instantly.