German soldier killed in Afghan attack

Jun 2, 2011, 13:24 GMT

Berlin - A German soldier was killed in an attack in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, the German army said in Berlin, the fourth German fatality in the country in less than 10 days.

A further five soldiers were injured in the attack on an armoured personnel carrier, which took place in the province of Baghlan, one of whom was in a critical condition, according to German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

The soldiers' company had been tasked with searching for improvized explosive devices along a main road in the region situated around 36 kilometres south of the city of Kunduz.

The Taliban took reponsibility for the attack in a text message, claiming they had killed five soldiers in a roadside bombing.

Whilst the country grieved for the soldiers killed in recent days, Germany would not pull out of Aghanistan, de Maiziere said.

'We canot yield to violence,' he said. 'If we went now, the Afghan's trust would be shaken ... We want security and development, not terror and repression.'

'Our strategy is right, it's taking effect, the Taliban are losing ground,' he added.

On Saturday two German soldiers were killed and a senior NATO official, German General Markus Kneip, northern Afghanistan commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), was injured in a bomb blast.

Last Wednesday a German soldier was killed in an attack on a patrol in Kunduz province.

Five Afghan police officers and several militants have been arrested in connection with Saturday's attack, in which a bomb was hidden inside the offices of the governor of Takhar province.

The attack also claimed the lives of General Daud Daud, top police commander in the northern region and a senior Afghan officer.

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