Romanian sergeant killed in Afghanistan by makeshift landmine

September 7, 2007 A Romanian soldier was killed on Thursday in Afghanistan and two others were wounded after their armored personnel carrier ran over a makeshift device. According to Romanian daily Evenimentul Zilei, this brings up to seven the number of Romanian soldiers dead on the 'anti-terror' front in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sergeant Major Aurel Marcu, 31, died immediately. Four other members of the team were all injured. Two of the soldiers, lieutenant Nicolae Grigore and lead-soldier Alex Zafiu, were transported by helicopter to a Kandahar military hospital, a Romanian Defense Ministry release informs. The other two received medical assistance in Qalat.

Sergeant Aurel Marcu was married and had a three-year-old child. He is the seventh Romanian Army fatality in the Middle East front, where there have been three victims in Iraq and four in Afghanistan.

With more than 800 soldiers, Romania is one of the ten countries which provide most of the NATO forces.