German soldier injured in Afghanistan attack

22 February 2006

KABUL – A 13-year-old Afghan was killed and a German soldier slightly injured Wednesday in a bombing in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that apparently was targeted at German forces.

A spokesperson for the German Defence Ministry said Wednesday in Berlin that between eight and 10 Afghan civilians were seriously injured in the attack.

The security chief of Kunduz province, Mutalib Big, spoke of 12 Afghan civilians injured, with one said to be in life-threatening condition.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The German military command in Potsdam said the blast occurred as three German army vehicles stopped at a market in Kunduz city. The attacker rammed a bike fitted with a bomb into one of the vehicles, causing the bomb to explode injuring a youth and a soldier.

German soldiers took the injured youth to hospital, where he died.

The defence ministry spokesman said investigations were underway to confirm whether the dead 13-year-old was the attacker. No details were available on suspected accomplices.

The attack resembles similar attacks in the past by rebels from the fundamentalist Taleban movement that was ousted by US-led international coalition forces in late 2001.

Since 2001, a total of 18 German soldiers have died in Afghanistan, where about 2,500 German troops are currently deployed as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Last November, a suicide bomber killed a German soldier in Kabul.

The defence ministry said the attack would in no way change the German military’s commitments in the country.

Most of the German contingent is deployed around the capital Kabul, with the rest stationed in the north of the country.

Over the course of 2006, the majority of the German troops are to be transferred to Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.

DPA

Subject: German news