Sophia Bruun (3 December 1987 – 1 June 2010) was a Danish soldier. Killed on 1 June 2010 while on duty in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, she was the first Danish woman soldier ever to be killed in action. Bruun was killed at midday on 1 June while manning a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

on an armoured Piranha patrol vehicle when it suffered a road-side bomb explosion. The incident took place 6 km (4 miles) north-east of

Girishk Grishk ( ps, ګرِشک, translit=Grishk; fa, گِرِشک, translit=Gereshk), also spelled Gereshk, is a town in Grishk District of Helmand province, geographically located along the Helmand River in Afghanistan, some northwest of Kandahar, a ...

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primar ...

. Bruun had served as a dedicated soldier, performing professionally in emergencies. In May 2010, she had helped overcome an attack by maintaining her position as a gunner and providing first aid to the wounded. Always ready to help, she had volunteered to serve at Patrol Base Clifton. According to Lars Bangert Struwe of the Danish Center for Military Studies (''Center for Militære Studier''), Danish women were being assigned to the same areas of conflict in Afghanistan as men, with the same responsibilities. It was therefore not surprising that a woman should die there. It was the first time a Danish woman soldier had died in action although a female lance corporal died in a traffic accident in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruun, Sophia 1987 births 2010 deaths Danish soldiers Women soldiers Danish military personnel killed in action Military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)