PRAGUE: Five Czech soldiers have been injured in an attack in Afghanistan only two months after three others were killed, the Czech defense ministry said on Thursday.
“The attack on the Czech patrol occurred on Wednesday around 1220 GMT near the Bagram base in the Parwan province,” the ministry said in a statement.
The five soldiers were injured when a civilian vehicle loaded with explosives was blown up near an armored vehicle which then rolled over, it added.
One soldier with serious injuries underwent surgery and his life is no longer in danger.
Another with light injuries remained in hospital while the other three were released, the ministry said.
On August 5, three Czech soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing while on patrol in the eastern Parwan province alongside a US soldier and two Afghan soldiers, who were wounded. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
It was the deadliest assault on NATO soldiers in many months.
The Lidove noviny broadsheet daily reported on Wednesday that Czech special forces had killed one of the August attackers and captured another, while Czech TV reported “far more” had been killed and captured.
Thirteen Czech soldiers have been killed in NATO missions in Afghanistan.
Five Czech soldiers wounded in Afghanistan attack — ministry
Five Czech soldiers wounded in Afghanistan attack — ministry
- The five soldiers were injured when a civilian vehicle loaded with explosives was blown up near an armored vehicle which then rolled over
- Thirteen Czech soldiers have been killed in NATO missions in Afghanistan
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
DUBAI: Russia sees a U.S. sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilise global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilise energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary authorisation allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea on Thursday extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorisation would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent said on a post on X.
However, the measure received mix reviews in European capitals, with many fearing it could help replenish Russia's assualt on Ukraine.
"I am concerned that we are further filling Putin's war chest," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche said that she saw both sides to the United States' decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, understanding the increasing ecnomic and political turnout from the oil crisis, particurlarly in South Korea and Japan.
"It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high," Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions against Russia for whatever reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister, who also said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran's leader called for the blocking of the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the United States and Israel.
With the conflict heading towards its third week and showing no signs of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
