National
The body of the Spanish soldier killed in Afghanistan this week arrives back in Spain
By h.b. - Feb 23, 2007 - 8:05 AM
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The body of the Spanish soldier killed this week in Afghanistan, Idoia Rodríguez Buján, has arrived back in Spain.
The Spanish air force plane was met after three a.m. this morning at Santiago de Compostela airport by the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and Defence Minister, José Antonio Alonso. Both personally expressed their sympathy to the family. Also present were other regional politicians and military chiefs.
Her boyfriend accompanied the coffin during its return.
Idoia Rodríguez became the first female Spanish soldier to lose her life on a peace keeping mission in Afghanistan last Wednesday.
It’s now known that the military ambulance in which she was travelling was hit by a mine with some 6.5 kilos of explosives.
The Prime Minister awarded her with the posthumous Cross of Military Merit.
There were very emotional scenes at the airport, not least when the victim’s mother collapsed and had to be taken to hospital in a military ambulance.
The soldier’s funeral and burial will be held tomorrow, Saturday in her native town of Friol in Lugo.
Her death brings the total number of Spanish soldiers to lose their lives in Afghanistan to 19.
The Spanish contingent of 690 is mostly based in the area of Herat.
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