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Three German soldiers killed in Afghanistan firefight (Roundup)

Jun 23, 2009, 15:18 GMT

Berlin - Three German soldiers died in a firefight in the northern Afghanistan region of Kunduz on Tuesday, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said. The three soldiers were taking evasive action with their armoured vehicle when it crashed into a ditch and overturned, sources told the German Press Agency dpa. Two of the occupants died immediately and the third after efforts to resuscitate him failed, the sources said. Jung said the three soldiers 'died for the cause of peace.' Earlier, the Defence Ministry said a German patrol came under fire during a combined operation with Afghan security forces. The incident took place some 6 kilometres from a base housing a German provincial reconstruction team working to improve the local infrastructure. The security situation in the Kunduz region has deteriorated in recent months amid increasing attacks by fundamentalist Taliban rebels. Germany has around 3,800 soldiers in Afghanistan, 1,100 of them in the Kunduz region. The Germans are part of a 65,000-strong NATO-led force deployed to the country from 42 nations. Some 35 German soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the troop deployment began in 2002. The last German fatality in the Kunduz region occurred at the end of April when a soldier was killed in an ambush.

Europe News

Three German soldiers killed in Afghanistan firefight (Roundup)

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