London: At first, the passing soldiers checking a route in Afghanistan thought they had come across an improvised explosive device but on closer look they realised that inside a bundle on the roadside was an abandoned newborn baby girl, alive and wrapped in a towel.
The Polish troops on patrol near their Waghez military base took the two-day-old to a medical centre at the base - and called her Pola, after the name of their country.
She was examined by military doctors after the shock discovery on Wednesday - and soldiers were sent to buy baby formula, a bottle and a bib, the News agencies reported.
No other people or buildings were found within a one-mile radius, and it was unclear who had left the baby there and why.
When they first saw the bundle, the soldiers were suspicious as it was in a country where hidden roadside bombs are prevalent, the report said adding that the troops planned to hand her over to Afghan paediatricians and authorities.
Their find happened a day after a British servicewoman gave birth in Afghanistan, after not realising she was pregnant.
The woman, who is originally from Fiji, had a healthy son at Camp Bastion on Tuesday. Both mother and baby are in a stable condition and will be flown home in the coming days.
That birth took place just four days after the camp was attacked by Taliban insurgents who destroyed six aircraft and killed two US Marines.
PTI
