Romanian PM Unscathed at Missile Attack in Afghanistan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and other high officials were evacuated and sheltered in bunkers when the NATO military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, came under a missile attack on Sunday.
According to the official Agerpres news agency, Ponta is in Kandahar, accompanied by Defence Minister Mircea Dusa and Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea, attending the ceremony marking the start of the pullout of Romanian troops from Afghanistan.
The incident occurred while the high officials were dining with the Romanian soldiers. When alarm sounded, everybody, Ponta included, were instructed to lie down as per the regular procedure, and were next evacuated.
The Romanian officials were whisked to bunkers in armored vehicles and the civilian members of the Romanian delegation were also taken to the shelters.
No one was injured and after tens of minutes, the prime minister and the two ministers resumed their visit schedule.
"There was nothing special. I am sorry we didn't get to sit down longer with our troops. It was a minor incident which gave some color to the event," Ponta told a press conference after laying a wreath of flowers at the monument inside the military base devoted to the 23 Romanian soldiers who died in Afghanistan in the past 12 years.
The Romanian troops in Afghanistan risk their lives several times a day, each time they go out on patrol missions, he stressed.
Romania began to send troops to Afghanistan in July 2002. The action was the country's first military mission abroad after World War II, Xinhua reported.
