Romania mourns its heroes in the fight against terrorism

A second Romanian serviceman has died of his wounds in Afghanistan on Friday after a guerrilla attack earlier this week. Sergeant Major Mihail Anton Samuilă, 35-year-old, was critically wounded on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his convoy of armored vehicles from the 151 Infantry Battalion 'Razboieni'. The convoy was returning from a mission in southern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, when the incident occurred at 1205 GMT, near the town of Spin Boldak.

Another Romanian serviceman, Sergeant Major Fogorasi Iosif-Silviu, 33 years old, was mortally wounded in the same attack.

They are Romania’s first fatalities since it contributed troops on the ground in Afghanistan, in 2002, as a part of its support to the Operation “Enduring Freedom”. Currently at their third rotation, the Romanian servicemen are integrated in the US lead contingent and carry the nickname of “Black Wolves”. They are also Romania’s first fatalities since it contributed forces to international peacekeeping missions.

 President Ion Iliescu conveyed his deepest sympathies to the mourning families and declared that the two soldiers fulfilled their duty of serving their country in the most exemplary way.  Prime Minister Adrian Năstase stated that their death were a great loss not only for their families but also for all the efforts Romania is doing to bring back normality in other areas.

President George W. Bush offered his condolences in a letter addressed to President Ion Iliescu on the death of Major Sergeant Fogorasi.

 The Ministry of Defense sincerely regrets the terrible loss suffered by the two families and stands by them. The Ministry will help the mourning families through these difficult moments and will take care of all the consequences of this situation for the families. Both soldiers were awarded military medals and promoted post-mortem to the rank of second lieutenant.

 A commission from the Ministry of National Defense will leave as soon as possible for Afghanistan to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the attack. For the time being, there were taken additional measures to increase protection of all the Romanian military in the theater of operation.

Romania has now 57 soldiers in the 5,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under NATO control and 430 in the U.S.-led force as part of the Operation Enduring Freedom.