At least 6 Georgian soldiers killed in Afghanistan attack
Afghanistan Uniformed Policemen (AUP) fire a Kalashnikov during a shooting lesson with US Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province on June 2, 2012.
At least six Georgian soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing on their military base in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province on Thursday, reported Reuters.
This is the second attack in a month that specifically targeted Georgian troops in Afghanistan, said Reuters.
"It was a terrorist attack on our base … Six of our soldiers died, nine were wounded," Irakly Dzneladze told reporters, according to Reuters.
However, Agence-France Press quoted Dzneladze as saying seven Georgian soldiers were killed. The discrepancy could not be immediately clarified.
Dzneladze described the attack as the work of a "suicide terrorist" who set off a truck loaded with bombs, said AFP.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili responded to the news on national television, saying: "This is a tragedy for their families, for our country and each of us," reported Reuters.
"Our duty to their memory is to continue our path towards NATO membership,” he later said, according to AFP.
Georgia is said to have sent the largest troop contingent to Afghanistan of any former Soviet nation, with 1,570 Georgian soldiers staffing the Helmand base, said AFP.