KABUL, Afghanistan — Five Polish soldiers were killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance and a Polish official said.
It was the deadliest single attack for the Polish military in Afghanistan, spokesman Jacek Sonta said in Warsaw. He said the soldiers were in a convoy headed to Rawza, in eastern Ghazni province, when it struck the bomb.
The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to journalists. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said "a Polish tank" was blown up and all its occupants were killed.
Mohamad Ali Ahmadi, deputy governor of Ghazni province, said that Polish soldiers were attending a morning meeting in the Rawza district of Ghazni city, about 77 miles (125 kilometers) southwest of the capital Kabul. One of their vehicles was destroyed by a roadside bomb, he said.
AP Television News footage from the scene showed wreckage of what seemed to be a U.S.-made Cougar armored terrain transport vehicle. The blast appeared to have shattered the 19-ton vehicle into three large pieces, which lay scattered around a crater not far from some village homes.
Poland is in the process of withdrawing some 100 out of the 2,600 troops it has in Afghanistan.
So far this year, 532 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan. The attack on the Polish convoy brings the number of NATO troops killed in December to 16.
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R.I.P.
szer. Krystian BANACH
st.kpr. Piotr CIESIELSKI
st.szer. Łukasz KRAWIEC
st.szer. Marcin SZCZUROWSKI
st.szer. Marek TOMALA
photos (thx 2 partizan at AC):
raw video by AP:
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Kabul Time
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