South Asia News
Bodies of six Italian soldiers' killed in Afghanistan returned home
Sep 20, 2009, 8:16 GMT
Rome - The bodies of six Italian soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week were returned home Sunday.
Senior officials from the government and military and relatives of the soldiers lined the tarmac at the military base in Rome as the caskets carrying their remains were unloaded from the plane.
The troops were killed when their convoy came under attack in in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday. The suicide bombing also claimed the lives of 10 Afghan civilians.
The soldiers are to be buried on Monday, which has been declared the a national day of mourning.
Their deaths mark one of the deadliest attacks on NATO troops in Afghanistan and is the highest casualty toll for Italian forces deployed in the war-torn country.
It has sparked renewed debate in Italy over the withdrawal of its 2,800 troops from Afghanistan.
While the Italian government has ruled out an immediate withdrawal, officials have indicated plans to gradually withdraw some 500 of the troops deployed during the recent Afghan elections by December.
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