3 Danish soldiers killed, 1 injured in Afghanistan

COPENHAGEN, Denmark –

Three Danish soldiers and one from the Netherlands were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan on Friday, losing their lives just as the commitment of some countries to the fight in Afghanistan begins to wane.

In Copenhagen, the army said the three Danes were killed and a compatriot badly injured when their armored vehicle drove over a bomb or a land mine in Helmand province — the most dangerous part of Afghanistan.

"Today we lost three Danish soldiers in a tragic way," said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "It is the biggest single loss for the Danish engagement in southern Afghanistan."

Denmark has about 700 troops in the NATO force in Afghanistan. Twenty-one have been killed since Denmark joined the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan in 2002.

In the Netherlands, Gen. Peter van Uhm said 24-year-old Sgt. Mark Weijdt was killed Friday when he stepped on an explosive device during a fire-fight with the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

"It is terrible news that casts a dark shadow over Christmas," said Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

Weijdt's death brings to 18 the number of Dutch troops killed in Afghanistan since August 2006, when the government took the unpopular step of sending 1,650 troops to serve with the NATO-led force.

One of the casualties was Van Uhm's son, killed shortly after his father was promoted to lead the country's military.

Dutch troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan in 2010. But Balkenende would not rule out extending the mission if U.S. President-elect Barack Obama asks for help in the fight against the Taliban.

In the Czech Republic, the lower chamber of parliament refused Friday to extend the deployment of the country's troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and other foreign missions for another year, meaning the soldiers will soon come home.

The mandate for as many as 415 Czech servicemen serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan — and for another 100 elite troops with the U.S.-led operation against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters — expires at year's end.

"I am ashamed of the vote," Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said. He said the government will use its constitutional right to delay the troops' return home by 60 days.

Earlier this month, Canada passed a grim milestone, losing its 100th soldier since it sent troops to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The milestone could rekindle debate about Canada's role in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed during his September election campaign to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2011. He has said Canadians do not have the appetite to keep their soldiers in Afghanistan longer.

Czech lawmakers do not extend Afghanistan mission

PRAGUE, Czech Republic –

The lower chamber of Czech parliament has failed to extend a mandate for the deployment of the country's troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and other foreign missions for next year, meaning the soldiers will leave soon.

The mandate for as many as 415 Czech servicemen serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and for another unit of 100 elite troops with the U.S.-led operation against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, expires by the year's end.

"I am ashamed of the vote," Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said.

Topolanek said later Friday the government used its constitutional rights and delayed the troops' return home by 60 days, starting Jan 1.

"It is a serious situation," Czech military chief of general staff Lt. Gen. Vlastimil Picek said. "It is a very bad signal for our partners," he said.

Of the 192 lawmakers present in the 200-seat house, only 99 deputies voted to extend the deployment by one more year and to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by another 230 soldiers. The governing coalition needed 101 to win.

Seventy-five deputies voted against the move, while 18 abstained.

The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 along with Hungary and Poland. They were the first three post-communist countries to do so.

The chamber's decision Friday means the end of all current foreign missions. The 550 troops deployed in the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo — the mission known as KFOR — will have to be withdrawn, as well five officers who were slated to train officers on Iraq for one more year.

The Czech Republic will also not make available next year 229 soldiers for NATO's rapid reaction force or NATO's Response Force and 1,800 more for an EU battle group unit.

Three Czech service members have died in Afghanistan.

Afghan-Canadian to be new governor of Kandahar

Thu Dec 18, 1:30 pm ET

OTTAWA –

An Afghan-Canadian academic will become the new governor of Afghanistan's troubled Kandahar province.

Tooryalai Wesa, 58, accepted Afghan President Hamid Karzai's offer Thursday for the top political position in the province, which has suffered some of the country's worst violence in the last two years.

Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, said Wesa formally agreed to take the job during a luncheon meeting Thursday in Kabul.

Ahmed Wali Karzai says Wesa will arrive at the governor's palace on Friday before his official swearing in on Saturday.