Kerry seeks answers on Irish soldier's death
FORMER US presidential candidate John Kerry has vowed to find answers for the family of an Irish woman killed on duty with the United States Army in Afghanistan.
The US Defence Department originally said that Ciara Durkin (30) was killed in action, but then said she died last Friday from a 'non-combat related incident' at Bagram Airfield, a heavily-fortified airbase about 30 miles north of Kabul.
Yesterday it emerged that her frustrated family turned to Massachusetts Senator John Kerry for help in finding out how she died.
Her sister Fiona Canavan said she was stunned when the senator left a message on her answering machine saying he "would not rest until we have answers".
"We feel honoured that Senator Kerry has taken a personal interest and we have great faith in his ability to bring us the answers we are anxiously waiting so my sister can rest in peace," Fiona said last night. "It is not fair to leave us wondering."
She said her sister had been shot once in the head behind a building near a church at about 6:30pm, an hour after sunset.
"Ciara was in casual clothes, so she had finished work," Fiona said.
"But they haven't told us any more than that and we have asked every question you could possibly imagine."
Emigrant
Ms Durkin, who left Ireland with her family in 1986, lived in the Boston suburb of Quincy and was assigned to the 726th Finance Battalion of the Massachusetts National Guard based in West Newton.
Her family was from Enach Mheain in Connemara and moved to Quincy when Ciara was 10.
A spokeswoman for Senator Kerry, Brigid O'Rourke, confirmed last night that the senator has spoken with family members.
She also said he had written to Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defence, to find out how she died.
In the letter he said the Durkin family "desperately needs answers'' as to the circumstances of Ciara's death, saying he could not "overstate the urgency and importance of this matter''.
And it has emerged that Ms Durkin's family has asked for an independent post mortem to be carried out on her body, and that the US Army has so far failed to tell them how she died.
The Army has also refused to release personal papers and her will. The revised statement from the Department of Defence means the military are now investigating the possibility that her death was as a result of an accidental shooting or possibly a suicide
But last night the Massachusetts National Guard refused to give any more details, saying the matter was under investigation. A spokesman at the Department of Defense said the circumstances surrounding Durkin's death were under investigation, which could take up to eight weeks.
Her funeral will be held on Saturday in Quincy.
