Blast kills Italian soldier

An explosive device killed an Italian soldier and wounded another as their vehicle was passing in western Afghanistan Saturday, the defence ministry and military command said. The dead soldier, named as corporal Gaetano Tuccillo, was driving the armoured vehicle in Farah province, a few kilometres from the town of Bakwa on the way back from a reconnaissance mission with the Afghan army.
His companion was wounded in the leg and evacuated by helicopter to a US military hospital, but his life was not in danger. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid tribute to the dead soldier, saying he had been "engaged in a mission for the freedom and democracy of a people."