wiki globe

Posts Tagged ‘soldiers’

, , , , , , , , ,

NATO loses 16 soldiers in three days of Afghan war

In Uncategorized on October 15, 2010 at 10:26 am

KABUL, Oct 15, 2010 (AFP) – A foreign soldier fighting the Afghan insurgency was killed by a Taliban-style bomb Friday, NATO said as it announced that another soldier died from injuries sustained in a similar attack a day earlier.


The deaths bring to 16 the number of foreign soldiers — at least six of them Americans — to have died in the war since Wednesday, according to an AFP tally.


NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said a “service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today”. It did not give further details.


There are more than 150,000 international troops deployed in Afghanistan trying to defeat a Taliban-led insurgency aimed at toppling the country’s Western-backed democracy.


The rebels have stepped up attacks every year since the Taliban regime was toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001.


To root out the rebels, Washington deployed an extra 30,000 reinforcements this year as the basis of a surge strategy aimed at speeding an end to the war. About 10,000 more NATO troops were also deployed.


This year, the deadliest yet for foreign forces, 590 NATO-led soldiers have been killed, according to a toll based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org website, compared to 521 killed last year.

d
Source: SGGP

, , , , , , , ,

Search on for 2 US soldiers missing in Afghanistan

In Uncategorized on July 25, 2010 at 11:18 am

A US soldier from 1st Platoon Bravo Troop of 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry walks past Afghans on a three-wheeler vehicle during a patrol in the Dand district of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan.

An extensive ground and air search was underway Sunday for two American soldiers who went missing in Taliban territory in Afghanistan, military officials said, amid fears one of them had been killed.


Nothing had been heard of the two, an official from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told AFP.


“They are still missing, we have had no contact with anybody so far, so we cannot confirm what has happened to them,” the official, who asked not to be indentified, told AFP.


“There is no confirmation that they are dead or have been kidnapped,” he said, adding: “There are rumours that one of them is dead.”


Another ISAF official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said earlier there were reports one of the pair had been killed and his body removed from the scene, in eastern Logar province where Taliban have a solid presence.


US media reports suggested the two may have left their base, in Charkh district, without permission.


They had been missing since about 8 pm (1530 GMT) on Friday and their car had been recovered in an area it should not have been, the officials said.


Local radio stations in Logar, south of Kabul, broadcast descriptions of the pair and offered rewards of ten thousand dollars for information leading to the safe recovery of each man, an AFP correspondent in the province said.


An ISAF statement issued almost 24 hours after the pair disappeared said they had left their compound late Friday “and did not return”.


“Nobody has been found but there are reports that there may be a casualty and that the body has been removed from the scene,” one of the ISAF officials said.


All reports were unsubstantiated, he added.


A Taliban spokesman denied the insurgents were behind the disappearance of the soldiers, though earlier he had contacted media outlets with detailed descriptions of the soldiers and the equipment they were carrying.


Speaking to AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location, the Taliban’s eastern Afghanistan spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said: “So far, we are not aware of it and cannot confirm this”.


A spokesman for Logar’s provincial governor said the two soldiers left their base in Charkh district late Friday “and went to opposition territory”.


“One of them has been killed and the other has been detained by the opposition,” Din Mohammad Darwaish told AFP, referring to the Taliban.


The BBC quoted Darwaish as saying the pair had been warned not to venture into what was known Taliban territory, and had found themselves in a gun battle with insurgents, after which they were captured.


Kidnappings of foreign soldiers are rare in Afghanistan, where a nine-year insurgency has been escalating in recent months, particularly in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.


Most kidnappings in recent years have been by criminals for ransom, though targets identified as high value have in the past been sold on to insurgent groups, who then use them as political pawns.

A 24-year-old US soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, who disappeared on June 30, 2009 is believed to have been the first American snatched by militants in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl’s captors have released at least two videos showing him to be alive, most recently in April.

The Taliban warned earlier this year they would target foreign military and government installations and staff, as well as Afghans working for them or for the Kabul government.

NATO said four US soldiers were killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan on Saturday while a fifth American died in a later attack.

Both attacks involved improvised-explosive devices, or IEDs, the main weapon deployed by the Taliban in their insurgency.

The deaths bring to 397 the toll of foreign soldiers killed in the war so far this year, compared with 520 for all of 2009.

An AFP tally based on that kept by the icasualties.org website puts the number of soldiers to have died since the Afghan insurgency began in 2001 at 1,965, with 1,205 of them Americans.

The US and NATO have almost 150,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the surge of an extra 30,000 Americans ordered by US President Barack Obama almost fully deployed, most of them in the hotspots of Kandahar and Helmand.

Source: SGGP

, , , , , , , ,

Child artists bring joy to wounded and sick soldiers

In Uncategorized on July 23, 2010 at 3:18 pm




Child artists bring joy to wounded and sick soldiers


QĐND – Friday, July 23, 2010, 20:42 (GMT+7)

PANO – 41 child artists from Hanoi Children’s Palace have recently visited wounded and sick soldiers in the Thuan Thanh War-Invalids Treatment and ConvalesceCenter in BacNinhProvince and Liem Can Seriously Wounded and Sick Soldiers Treatment and ConvalesceCenter in Ha Nam Province.


The young guests sung a number of songs praising the country, the sacrifice of soldiers in the war for national independence and salvation as well as childhood.


Their performance brought the war invalids back to their student-age, and partly relieved their physical pains and brightened their spiritual life.


Along with songs, the young artists also presented pictures painted by themselves to those who had devoted their youth for the country.


The visit is part of numerous significant activities towards the 63rd commemoration of War-Invalids and Martyrs’ Day on July 27th, and was a good opportunity for the younger generation to know more about the sacrifice of soldiers as well as to express their gratitude to them.


Translated by Mai Huong


Source: QDND

, , , , , , ,

More activities launched for martyrs and wounded soldiers

In Uncategorized on July 23, 2010 at 3:18 pm




More activities launched for martyrs and wounded soldiers


QĐND – Friday, July 23, 2010, 20:42 (GMT+7)

PANO – A delegation of officers and doctors from the Logistics Department under the Vietnam People’s Army Political General Department have visited and presented gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers and social beneficiaries in Thang Binh District in Quang Nam Province on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27th).


Each gifts worth 1,800,000 VND was presented to Vietnamese heroic mothers and their families. In addition, military doctors of the delegation cooperated with local doctors to provide free check-ups and medicines to nearly 200 residents.


The Air Force and Air Defence Service sent groups to visit and present gifts to three recuperation centres for wounded and sick soldiers in Ninh Binh, Bac Ninh and Ha Nam Provinces. These groups also visited and gave gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers and social beneficiaries in the areas.


On this occasion, the Service completed the construction of 2 houses and presented them to families of a martyr and a wounded soldier in Chiem Hoa District in Tuyen Quang Province.


Also, two houses of gratitude have been presented to families of two martyrs in Hai Phong City.  These houses were built by Company 789 of the General Staff and the Hai Phong City’s Military Command.


Translated by Duy Minh


Source: QDND

, , , , , , , ,

Central province hangs bronze bell to commemorate fallen soldiers

In Uncategorized on July 21, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Officials hung a six-ton bronze bell at the seventh-floor of the Dong Loc bell-tower at the historical Dong Loc T-junction in the central province of Ha Tinh on July 20, marking the 42-year anniversary of the Nga Ba Dong Loc (Dong Loc T-junction) Victory and the martyrdom of ten young female volunteers.

Artisan Nguyen Van Ung casting the 6-ton bell, which was hung in the bell tower of Dong Loc T- Junction Relic in Ha Tinh Province on July 20. (Photo: VNA)


The event also marks the 60th anniversary of Vietnam voluntary force’s traditional day (July 15) held by management board of the Dong Loc T-junction relic site and Lilama 5 Joint Stock Company.


The bell, four meters high and 1.95 meters wide, was cast by the artisan Nguyen Van Ung from Hoa Mai workshop in Ngu Xa village of Hanoi and was funded by donations from individuals, organizations and businesses nationwide.


The Dong Loc T-junction, which played a vital role in the transport of necessities and ammunition from the north and the south, is well-known for the story of 10 young unmarried female volunteers, who sacrificed their lives to ensure transport on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (July 24, 2010).


From 1965-1968, the US army dropped nearly 50,000 bombs and fired tens of thousands of missiles at T-junction, in the hope of cutting off the transport route to the southern front.


Dong Loc has become a historical symbol for the nation’s patriotic traditions.

Source: SGGP

, , , , , ,

Taliban suicide attack kills NATO soldiers, civilians

In Uncategorized on May 19, 2010 at 5:03 am

A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul on Tuesday killing 18 people, including five US soldiers, a Canadian colonel and 12 civilians in the deadliest strike on the capital in over a year.


The Taliban, which is leading a nearly nine-year insurgency against the Afghan government and its foreign backers, claimed responsibility for the bomb, having pledged a new nationwide campaign of attacks.

Afghan and foreign troops block a road at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul. A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul on Tuesday killing 18 people, including five US soldiers, a Canadian soldier and 12 civilians in the deadliest strike on the capital in over a year

The attacker detonated the bomb during rush hour, unleashing blood and chaos on a clogged street near parliament and on a nearby hospital run by foreigners, an army recruitment centre and the ministry of water and energy.


Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said 12 civilians were killed and 47 wounded. Most had been passing in a bus when the bomber blew up the car. Children and women were among the dead.


The NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed one of its convoys had been attacked and said six international soldiers — five of them from the United States — were killed and several others wounded.


Ottowa said the sixth soldier was a 42-year-old Canadian colonel, the highest ranking Candadian to die in the conflict since 2002.


The American University of Afghanistan was across the road from the bomb site and the Kabul museum was about 100 metres away.


A burnt-out vehicle sat crumpled in the street and Afghan civilians, some covered in blood, were being evacuated from the site. Among them was a little girl wearing school uniform black skirt and white headscarf, who was carried out by a volunteer, an AFP photographer said.


The Taliban militia are waging an increasingly deadly insurgency and attacks have increased over the past 12 months in the heavily guarded capital.


President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack. “The president called the attack an act against all human and Islamic principles and deemed the perpetrators brutal terrorists, who to achieve evil goals, grieved innocent Kabulis,” his office said.


NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen “strongly” condemned the attack but said the alliance remained “committed to its mission to protect the Afghan people and to strengthen Afghanistan’s ability to resist terrorism”.


The White House said the Taliban were offering the people of Afghanistan “only destruction”.


“They have so little respect for humanity they would murder Afghan civilians waiting for a bus. The United States and Afghan governments remain steadfast in our determination to build security, stability and opportunity for Afghanistan,” spokesman Bill Burton said.


The United Nations and European Union condemned the attack in statements released in Kabul.


Later Tuesday, NATO said two of its soldiers had been killed in the south of the country, one by an improvised explosive device, the weapon of choice for Taliban insurgents, and one by small arms fire.


At least 210 NATO soldiers, 130 of them from the United States, have died in the war so far this year. It has been the deadliest January to May period since a US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime in 2001.


The United States and NATO allies are deploying thousands of extra troops in the war, with the overall number due to peak at 150,000 by August, part of a new strategy designed to beat back the Taliban.


Washington believes this “surge” can wrest back the initiative in key population centres and allow US forces to start withdrawing from the unpopular and costly conflict next year.

Tuesday’s bombing was the first major attack in Kabul since February 26, when Taliban suicide bombers targeted guesthouses, killing 16 people including Westerners and Indians.

That was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban launched suicide bomb and gun attacks on three Afghan government buildings, killing at least 26 people in February 2009.

Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, telephoned AFP from an undisclosed location to claim responsibility: “The attack, which was a suicide car bomb, was carried out by one of our mujahedeen”, or holy warriors, he said.

The Taliban had promised a new nationwide campaign of attacks from May 10 targeting diplomats, members of the Afghan parliament, foreign contractors and the 130,000-strong international military force.

Also on Tuesday, in the eastern province of Paktia, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a local administration headquarters after police opened fire on him, the interior ministry said. A police officer was killed, it said.

Two police officers and two soldiers were killed in separate Taliban-style roadside bombings in the southern province of Helmand, the interior and defence ministries said. The attacks were blamed on Taliban.

Source: SGGP

, , , , , , , ,

Grand requiem for fallen soldiers held in Dien Bien

In Uncategorized on May 13, 2010 at 12:53 am




Grand requiem for fallen soldiers held in Dien Bien


QĐND – Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 21:7 (GMT+7)

A grand requiem for Vietnamese soldiers who devoted their lives for the nation was held on May 12 at the A1 cemetery in the northwestern province of Dien Bien involving Buddhists, Vietnamese veterans, local people and overseas Vietnamese.


Addressing the requiem, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son, who is also Head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, stressed that “to be able to live the current free, peaceful and happy life, no one among us are allowed to forget losses and sacrifices of elders.”


Cao Van San, member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and President of the Vietnamese People’s Association in the Thai province of Sakon Nakhon, on behalf of the participating overseas Vietnamese, affirmed the expatriates’ deep respect paid to martyrs.


The requiem not only helps the participating expatriates clearly understand the country’s glorious history during the resistant war against the French, but also manifests the policy on freedom of religions and belief of the Vietnamese Party and State, said Nguyen Pham Dien from Australia, who are among 30 overseas Vietnamese from nine countries to attend the event.


The ceremony was held by the Foreign Ministry’s State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, and the Dien Bien People’s Committee to coincide with the 56th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory over the French colonialists (May 7).


At the ceremony, the overseas Vietnamese delegation presented more than 240 million VND to the provincial fund for the poor and study promotion fund.


The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese took the opportunity to present five insignias and 14 certificates of merit to collectives and individuals in recognition of their contributions to work relating to overseas Vietnamese.


Earlier on May 10-11, the overseas Vietnamese delegation visited several historic relics and presented gifts to the SOS village for disadvantaged children in Dien Bien province.


The 56-day-and-night Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954 help put an end to the colonial rule in Vietnam.


There are about 3,970 graves of fallen soldiers at the A1, Doc Lap and Him Lam Cemeteries in Dien Bien province.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

, , , , , , , , ,

Two soldiers died and three missed in finding shipwrecked fishermen

In Uncategorized on May 7, 2010 at 12:36 pm

Two officers, soldiers were dead and three missing while they were looking for  two shipwreck victims in Se-re-pok River, central province of Dac Lac on May 5.


After receiving information about two fishers who were shipwrecked in the river at 7:45 pm on May 5, ten officers and soldiers came to the scene to find the victims. However, at 9:15 pm, seven people including six officers, soldiers and one resident were swept away while they were finding victims in the river because their motorboat was shipwrecked.


Faced with unexpected situation, a rescue group saved two people only – Ngan Van Huyen, 33, the resident and Lieutenant Phu Minh Ngoc Hung.


Until 10 pm the same day, the group found dead body of the sublieutenant Cao Tuan Nam. The dead body of the private first class Chiu Tien Dung also was found at midnight on May 5.


The group also found the two fishers’ body dead on May 6 – Nguyen Van Dan, 36 and Nguyen Van Luan, 18, living at Buon Don District.


Dac Lac Province leaders and the province’s army command leaders came to the scene to guide to look for remain people including Lieutenant Nguyen Manh Hung, sublieutenant Tran Phuoc Minh and private first class Nong Van Tuan.


On May 7, Buon Don District People’s Committee organized a solemn memorial service for two soldiers, said major general Vo Duy Chin.


The Dac Lac Province’s Army Headquarter called for officers, soldiers to share losses with sacrificed soldiers’ relative and their families by actions as well as to continue to look for missing soldiers.

Source: SGGP

, , ,

Soldiers help ethnic people

In Uncategorized on May 5, 2010 at 4:39 pm




Soldiers help ethnic people


QĐND – Wednesday, May 05, 2010, 21:39 (GMT+7)

PANO – Soldiers from Unit H50 of Regiment B61 under the Air Defence and Air Force Service have launched several activities to help people of the Muong and Dao ethnic minorities in Dan Ha district, Hoa Binh province.


Working together with local residents in Dan Ha Commune, Ky Son District, they presented almost 100 sets of warm clothes and blankets to ethnic minority people facing adversity.


In addition, military doctors helped local people to prevent epidemic and provide free check-ups and medicines, worth more than VND 5 million, to poor people.


The activities, launched every year by the unit, help strengthen the relationship between the soldiers and local people.


Translated by Duy Minh


Source: QDND

, , , , , ,

State President pays tribute to fallen soldiers

In Uncategorized on April 18, 2010 at 3:14 pm




State President pays tribute to fallen soldiers


QĐND – Sunday, April 18, 2010, 21:20 (GMT+7)


The State and people of Vietnam from generation to generation always show their great gratitude to soldiers who had fallen for the national liberation and unification, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The State President made the statement at a ceremony to honour 12 units and 29 individuals as heroes of the People’s Armed Forces on April 17 in Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of the 35 th anniversary of the Liberation of South Vietnam (April 30).


President Triet said the footprints of heroes can be recognised across the country as each citizen could become a soldier and a hero and that martyrs are the symbols of the revolutionary heroism.


He called on the entire Party and people of Vietnam to continue their efforts further develop the country along the socialist orientation, following the late President Ho Chi Minh’s recommendation on determination to protect the Communist Party of Vietnam, the socialism and national sovereignty, deserving the sacrifices of martyrs.


The awardees of the title are units and individuals who had attained remarkable achievements during the war against the French colonialists, the American imperialists as well as the process of national construction and defence.


Source: VNA


Source: QDND