Students mourn teacher killed in Kabul attack

Jan 20, 2014

The Dane killed in Friday's terror attack in Kabul was Mette Teilmann Nielsen, 34, who had just taken leave from working as a teacher at the Copenhagen upper secondary school Nørre Gymnasium.

Nielsen was in Afghanistan to participate in the EU police mission in EUPOL and had previously worked for the UN in the country.

She was among 21 fatal victims when three Taleban terrorists attacked the Lebanese restaurant where she was dining on Friday night.

Professional and engaged
According to Ekstra Bladet, Nielsen had taught history and social studies for the past 18 months, prior to which she had worked for a range of organisations in the fields of security, human rights and peace.

The head of Nørre Gymnasium, Jens Boe Nielsen (no relation to the victim), said that many students were shocked and saddened by the news.

“She was a teacher that was both professionally highly qualified, while also added an insight into what was happening out in the world," Nielsen told Ekstra Bladet. "Despite her young age, she was very experienced and was highly knowledgeable about what was going on in the world and in different organisations. It is certainly an enormous loss, both for her family and for the students who could have benefited from being taught by someone with her background."

Vicious and inhuman attack
EUPOL Afghanistan was launched in 2007 and is tasked with helping establish a police force in Afghanistan.

It is led by Karl Åke Roghe, who condemned the attack that also claimed the life of a British EUPOL staff member.

“I am shocked and appalled by what has happened and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are very much with the family and friends of those involved," Roghe stated in a press release. "We are saddened and outraged by this atrocity and by the inhuman, vicious and wanton nature of the attack, in which many other internationals and Afghans have also tragically lost their lives."