Rome: The Italian government vowed on Thursday
that its troops would not be forced out of Afghanistan after
six soldiers were killed in a Taliban suicide attack on a
military convoy in Kabul.
"Sadly I must confirm the loss of six human lives from
the parachute regiment," Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa
said in a statement to the Senate.
"I say to the cowardly and despicable attackers that
they will not stop us and that our mission will continue," he
added.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also pledged that
Italy would continue to be a part of the NATO force in
Afghanistan where it has some 3,250 troops.
"The Italian soldiers paid a high price for the
freedom and security of Afghanistan, Italy and Europe and we
must stay in that country," he said.
But Frattini acknowledged that more work was needed to
win over support from ordinary Afghan people.
"We must worker harder to win the hearts of the
Afghans, those we consider our allies, so as to isolate the
terrorists."
Italy`s lower house of parliament held a one-minute
silence in memory of the soldiers while Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi addressed condolences to their families.
Three other soldiers were also wounded in the attack
on two armoured vehicles about 1.5 kilometres from the US
embassy gates on the busy airport road.
Bureau Report
