Friday, October 02, 2009

Elite Swedish soldiers blow up wrong house

A group of elite Swedish soldiers made a colossal error during a demolition exercise at the weekend when they blasted their way into the wrong house.

The incident took place during what was supposed to be a routine training operation, for a group of soldiers from Sweden's Life Regiment Hussars (K3), an elite cavalry division involved in intelligence and paratrooper training.

On its website, the Life Regiment Hussars characterize themselves as “light, highly mobile units with substantial strike power.” Among other credentials, the Hussars also boast of having “long experience in the area of intelligence.”



But something nevertheless went wrong for the soldiers involved in an exercise which took place in Röjdåfors in northern Värmland in west central Sweden, near the Norwegian border. The mission, performed in conjunction with the Swedish home guard (Hemvärnet), called for the soldiers to capture a house.

However, the elite unit somehow managed to hit the wrong target, and instead bombarded a house located about 200 metres from their intended target. Collateral damage included blown out doors and window frames, before the soldier's discovered their mistake.

“I think we've already cleaned up after ourselves. And we have, of course, contacted the owner. There's no hard feeling between us,” K3's public relations officer said.

No comments: