ESTONIA SUFFERS FIRST CASUALTIES IN HELMAND BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TALLINN 000740

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR NATO AF UK EN
SUBJECT: ESTONIA SUFFERS FIRST CASUALTIES IN HELMAND BUT
DETERMINED TO EXPAND PRT PRESENCE

REF: TALLINN

Classified By: DCM Jeff Goldstein for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Late in the evening on August 11, 37 Estonian
soldiers came under
attack at their temporary base camp in Garmsir (along the
Afghanistan-Pakistan
border),where they are serving as part of the UK-led PRT.
The Estonians came
under fire by 23 MM Sergei anti-aircraft rounds and/or rocket
propelled
grenades resulting in three Estonian casualties. Two of the
soldiers are back
with the unit while a third is still in hospital in stable
condition at
Camp Bastion.


2. (C) Although this is not the first fire-fight Estonian
soldiers have faced
in Helmand, these are the first casualties Estonia's PRT
mission has suffered.
MOD Director for Operations Taimar Peterkop told Poloff Aug
14 that this
incident has had no affect on the Estonian Defense Forces
(EDF) or the GOE's
commitment to the mission and will not alter its plans to
expand Estonia's
presence in Helmand from 80 to 120 soldiers by the end of the
year. Peterkop
remarked that if they had wanted to avoid casualties, the
Estonians would have
remained in Garesk, in northern Helmand, where fire-fights
were less common.


3. (C) Local press coverage of the casualties has so far
been generally
positive. While press coverage of Estonia's mission in
Afghanistan has been
sporadic, Acting MFA Director for Security Policy Arti Hilpus
believes that
this incident and any future casualties could raise the level
of public
interest. As part of the GOE's plan to raise public awareness
and understanding
of why Estonian soldiers are serving in Helmand, Defense
Minister Jurgen Ligi
will travel to Afghanistan on August 24-26 where he will
visit Helmand to meet
with the Estonian troops. A reporter from Eesti Paevaleht,
one of the leading
Estonian newspapers, will be a part of Liigi's delegation.
As part of his
visit, Ligi is also planning to travel through Kabul to meet
with the Afghan
Defense Minister.


4. (C) Comment. The GOE has always maintained that it was a
question of when,
not if their troops in Helmand would suffer casualties. In
response to this
incident, the EDF, MOD, and MFA have worked closely together
to develop a
mechanism to respond quickly to reports of casualties and
offset any potential
public backlash. GOE officials remain committed to the
Afghan mission, which
Peterkop and Hilpus have described on numerous occasions as
Estonia's highest
foreign mission priority. We do not expect any change in
Estonian's plans to
increase contributions to the mission in the coming months.
WOS