Pawel Ordynski

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Poland

Polish Army

Private 1st Class, 12 Mechanized Brigade, 12 Mechanized Division

03/20/2013, Ghazni, Afghanistan

Senior Private Pawel Ordynski became the 39th Pole to be killed in the Afghanistan war after his vehicle ran over a mine today while on patrol.

The incident occurred at 9 am Polish time, as Ordynski was driving an ostensibly Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP) on a routine patrol north west of the city of Ghazni. Another Polish soldier was injured in the explosion, and he has been flown by helicopter to a hospital at the NATO base in Ghazni. His condition is stable.

Senior Private Ordynski, who was 29, had served in both the Balkans and Afghanistan. He had been a driver for the 12th Mechanised Brigade since 2004, and this was his fourth mission. He is survived by a son.

Polish forces have been part of the NATO mission to Afghanistan since 2002, just months after the Taliban regime was compelled to abandon the capital, Kabul, in November 2001, under heavy attack from American forces. The 39 Polish casualties include one medic.

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