Taliban bombers killed five Polish soldiers in an attack on their convoy in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the deadliest single loss for Warsaw’s NATO contingent in the 10-year war. “This is the most deadly attack in the history of Polish military missions abroad,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in comments broadcast in Poland Wednesday. The five soldiers were killed by what Tusk described as a “very powerful explosive device” while on patrol. The attack took place on a “road considered to be safe until now,” he added. Poland has 2,600 soldiers in Afghanistan and is one of the largest contributors to NATO’s US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which expects to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2014.
In Kabul, ISAF confirmed that five NATO soldiers were killed in an attack in the southeastern province of Ghazni, where Polish troops are responsible for security, but declined to release their nationalities in keeping with policy. Ghazni provincial police chief Dilawar Zahid said the attack took place in the Rawza area of Ghazni city at 11:30 am (0700 GMT). He confirmed casualties, but could not give an exact number. A witness told AFP that an ISAF vehicle had been “totally destroyed” and saw helicopters evacuating casualties. The Taliban claimed responsibility in a text message spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sent to AFP. He claimed the Taliban had targeted a Polish convoy and killed several NATO soldiers, without providing any evidence.
