By IANS/AKI,
Rome : The killing of two soldiers will not deter Italy’s commitment to support NATO mission in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Monday.
Berlusconi’s comment came hours after two Italian soldiers were killed and two others injured in a bomb attack on a NATO military convoy in Afghanistan’s western Herat province.
“The mission in Afghanistan is of fundamental importance to stability and peacemaking in a strategic area,” Berlusconi said in a statement.
Berlusconi also expressed condolences to the families of the victims and his support for the two injured soldiers, one of whom is a woman.
Major Mario Renna, spokesman for the NATO International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF’s) western command, said the convoy struck a roadside bomb at 9.15 a.m. 25 km south of Bala Murghab on the border with Turkmenistan.
Italy has 3,300 troops in Afghanistan as part of ISAF and heads the western regional command headquartered in Herat.
So far, twenty-two Italians have been killed in Afghanistan and the latest casualties took the total number of foreign casualties to 200 this year.