Norwegian peacekeeper killed in rocket attack

A rocket attack on an international peacekeepers’ vehicle in the Afghan capital Kabul killed a Norwegian soldier and wounded another.

Attackers fired three rockets along the main route into Kabul from the east where the International Security Assistance Force has several bases, said a spokesman for the Nato-led force, British Lieutenant Richard Scarth.

Norwegian defence ministry spokesman, Lieutenant General Thorstein Skiaker, said in Oslo that one of its soldiers was killed and a second injured in the rocket attack. Two other soldiers were unharmed, he said.

The four soldiers were part of 200 troops from the country’s elite Telemark Battalion and were sent to Afghanistan in 2003 as part of the Nato-led security force.

British peacekeepers sealed off the road following yesterday’s attack preventing reporters from visiting the site, where a helicopter could be heard circling overhead. Senior Afghan police hurried past the cordon to inspect the scene.

Afghan militants have stepped up attacks on Afghan and foreign troops in southern and eastern Afghanistan in recent weeks, casting doubt on plans for landmark national elections in September.

While the capital has been relatively peaceful, commanders of the 6,000-strong peacekeeping force – which is separate from the 20,000 mainly-US troops pursuing Taliban-led militants – have said they remained on guard against possible attacks.