An Italian soldier was killed along with a young Afghan child in a roadside bomb attack on Tuesday near the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Five other Italian soldiers were injured - two seriously - in the remote-control blast which took place at 8.00 a.m. local time some 10 kilometres to the south of Kabul. Military sources said the soldiers were part of a three-vehicle convoy which was on patrol duty.
The child who was killed was reported to have been in a car travelling behind the convoy.
The Italian victim was identified as 31-year-old GiorgioLangella from the northwest town of Imperia. The two seriously injured, 30-year-old Francesco Cirmi and 24-year-old Vincenzo Cardella, were taken to a French-run military hospital where they underwent operations, one for facial wounds and the other for leg injuries.
Their condition was not said to be life threatening. The other three Italians involved in the attack were treated for shock and minor injuries.
Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack together with a suicide bombing which also took place on Tuesday morning in the southern Afghan province of Helmand and left at least 18 people dead. The victims in the Helmand attack were reported to be 12 civilians and six local police and army officials.
Meanwhile, Italian Premier Romano Prodi sent his condolences to Langella's wife and family. Langella is the seventh Italian soldier to die in
Afghanistan. Italian soldier Giuseppe Orlando died less than a week ago in a road accident near Kabul. Orlando was on patrol duty at the time, aboard a military vehicle which overturned while making a turn on slippery terrain.
Italy has some 1,700 troops serving in Afghanistan as part of the Nato-led ISAF peacekeeping mission there. Most of the Italians are based in Kabul, which is in the east, but 750 are serving in the western city of Herat. Langella's death immediately reignited a heated domestic debate over whether Italy should pull out of Afghanistan.
Pacifist elements in the nine-party governing coalition, particularly on the hard left, have been pressing for a withdrawal or at least a reduction in the size of Italy's contingent, arguing that Afghanistan has become too dangerous for a peacekeeping mission.
In July, Prodi was forced to put a measure ensuring the refunding of Italy's mission to Afghanistan to a confidence vote in the Senate after rebel pacifists threatened to vote against it. The Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), the Italian Communists' Party (PDCI) and the Greens all joined forces on Tuesday in calling for a troop pullout.
PDCI House Whip Pino Sgobio said that "this umpteenth tragic death is the result of an absurd war".
Green chief Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said that "we are extremely worried about what's happening in Afghanistan, where the situation is getting worse by the day. The international community must change its strategy". But Culture Minister and Deputy Premier Francesco Rutelli, who heads the centrist Daisy party, said recently that a troop pullout was "unthinkable".
"It's a difficult situation... but withdrawing would allow the Taliban to regain power," Rutelli said. The centre-right opposition headed by former premier Silvio Berlusconi has accused the government of "irresponsibility", arguing that the divided line on the Afghan mission is exposing Italian troops to greater risks.
"Those who are calling for our withdrawal are increasing the dangers because it gives the Taliban the impression that Italy is wavering and could change its mind (about the mission)," said Berlusconi's Forza Italia party. Some military officials now say the situation in Afghanistan is worse than in Iraq, with the Taliban leading a fierce resurgence which has killed more than 2,300 people this year.
Most of the fighting is in the south of Afghanistan, where the 26-state NATO has appealed to member nations to send more troops.
