Italian Soldier Killed, 2 Wounded in Western Afghanistan Blast

An Italian soldier was killed Monday and two others were wounded in an explosion at a police training camp in Adraskan in western Afghanistan, Italy's defense ministry said.

The explosion hit "an observation hut near a shooting range", the ministry said in a statement, without giving further details on what caused the blast.

Manuele Braj, 30, who was married with an eight-month-old baby, was killed instantly. Two other Italian soldiers were wounded to the legs but are out of danger. All three belonged to the Police Specialty Training Team (PSTT).

The blast area has been isolated while officials carry out an investigation into the explosion, the ministry said.

Italy has 4,000 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force but plans to reduce deployment starting this year.

The government aims to withdraw completely from the country by the end of 2014, Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said last week.

Rome has budgeted 360 million euros ($449 million) for the Afghan security forces and infrastructural projects during the period between 2015 and 2017.

A total 51 Italian soldiers have been killed in combat or died in accidents in Afghanistan, according to an Agence France Presse count.