Swedish troops, interpreter killed in Afghanistan

A deadly attack on a routine patrol in northern Afghanistan has killed two Swedish army officers and a local interpreter.

Sweden’s military command in Stockholm confirmed the attack on Sunday, when the patrol in the northern city of Mazar-e Shariff came under a “small-arms attack.”

The military command, however, did not specify the nature of the attack and whether the attack was carried out by militants.

The assault left a third Swedish trooper injured, who was receiving treatment at a German-run field hospital in Mazar-e Shariff — the capital of Balkh province.

The incident has raised Sweden’s death toll in Afghanistan to four since the Scandinavian county joined the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Sweden currently has some 500 soldiers in Afghanistan, and has not changed the level since 2004.

Meanwhile, in another northern province, reports suggested tension was rising between Afghan security forces and the NATO-led forces.

The international forces said Sunday they had arrested a deputy provincial police chief on suspicion of assisting Taliban bombers in planting roadside bombs north of the capital, Kabul.

However, officials in Kapisa province dismissed the charges against the police head, Attaullah Wahab, saying he was an honest and good officer.

The authorities complained that Afghan authorities had not been informed about Friday’s arrest in advance.