Seven German soldiers killed in helicopter crash

Seven German soldiers were killed on 21st December 2002 when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a suburb of Kabul.

According to witnesses, the Sikorsky helicopter nose-dived out of the sky with flames coming from the engine.

It is thought that the crash was an accident, possibly caused by a technical fault, rather than the result of terrorist or enemy fire.

The seven dead soldiers were:

Captain Friedrich Deininger, age 53, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment

Lieutenant Uwe Vierling, age 31, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment

Sergeant Frank Erlich, age 29, serving with the Luftwaffe

Sergeant Heinz-Ullrich Hewusst, age 41, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment

Sergeant Thomas Schiebel, age 28, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment

Sergeant Bernhard Kaiser, age 46, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment

Private Enrico Schmidt, age 24, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment

Two British soldiers dead in Kabul incident

Two British soldiers have died following an incident in Kabul on 17 August 2002.

Sergeant Robert Busuttil and Corporal John Gregory, both aged thirty, died from gunshot wounds at the British base at Kabul International Airport, on 17 August 2002. Both men served with the Royal Logistic Corps. Their next of kin have been informed. Colleagues in Kabul held a service of remembrance for them on 18 August 2002.

A full investigation into the circumstances of the deaths was conducted by the Royal Military Police and completed in January 2003. The investigation found that the men did not die as a result of hostile enemy action. 

Robert Busuttil

John Gregory

British Private, Darren George

Private Darren John George from the Royal Anglian Regiment, serving with the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, has died after a tragic incident during a patrol on Tuesday, 9 April 2002.

The incident occurred during a security patrol in the Afghan capital, and was the subject of a full inquiry to establish the exact circumstances. However, hostile action was not a factor.

Five bomb disposal troops killed in explosion

Five NATO Bomb-disposal engineers were killed on 6th March 2002 while they were defusing a Soviet-made ground-to-air missile near Kabul, Afghanistan. The missile exploded as the engineers worked on it.

The engineers included two German Army Sergeants: Oberfeldwebel Mike Rubel (27) and Oberfeldwebel Thomas Knochert (29).

Also, three Danish personnel serving with the Danish Army Royal Engineers died: Sergeant Thomas Butzkowsky (26), Lance-Corporal Brian Andersen (26) and Lance-Corporal Kim Carlsen (35).

Australian SAS Sergeant Andrew Russell

SAS Sgt. Russell

Thirty-three-year-old Sergeant Andrew Russell, from the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment, has been killed in action in Afghanistan. 

Sgt. Russell suffered fatal wounds on 16th February, 2002 when the long-range patrol vehicle in which he was travelling struck a suspected anti-vehicle mine.

He was one of five Australian personnel travelling in the vehicle, but was the only person wounded in the explosion.

Combat Search and Rescue helicopters were launched from Kandahar 13 minutes after the task group headquarters was notified of the incident at 11.58pm Australian Eastern Summer Time.

Despite the efforts of a three-member US military rescue team, who parachuted into the scene to stabilise him in preparation for evacuation by helicopter, he was pronounced dead after arriving at a United States medical facility in Kandahar.