(RFE/RL)
14 November 2005 -- Taliban fighters killed a German peacekeeper and three Afghans in two suicide car bomb attacks near Kabul today.
The blasts came close to an hour apart on the same stretch of road east of the Afghan capital. On each occasion the attackers rammed a car into a vehicle belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
The latest violence coincided with rejection by the Taliban -- ousted from power by a U.S.-led force in 2001 -- of President Hamid Karzai's call on them to halt insurgency and join a national reconciliation process.
German Defense Minister Peter Struck described the situation to journalists in Karlsruhe, Germany.
"We are permanently faced with threats, unspecific threats, and our intelligence agency and many others dealing with this sort of information are looking into them but there were no indications of immediate suicide attacks anywhere," Struck said.
Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah told Reuters via satellite telephone from an undisclosed location that his fighters "have plans for more of the same."
The first blast killed the German soldier and wounded two others. Three Afghan civilians were also wounded.
Shortly afterward, three Afghans were killed in another suicide attack.
The peacekeeping force, stationed in Kabul since the 2001 invasion, has been targeted by suicide bombers before.
(news agencies)
The latest violence coincided with rejection by the Taliban -- ousted from power by a U.S.-led force in 2001 -- of President Hamid Karzai's call on them to halt insurgency and join a national reconciliation process.
German Defense Minister Peter Struck described the situation to journalists in Karlsruhe, Germany.
"We are permanently faced with threats, unspecific threats, and our intelligence agency and many others dealing with this sort of information are looking into them but there were no indications of immediate suicide attacks anywhere," Struck said.
Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah told Reuters via satellite telephone from an undisclosed location that his fighters "have plans for more of the same."
The first blast killed the German soldier and wounded two others. Three Afghan civilians were also wounded.
Shortly afterward, three Afghans were killed in another suicide attack.
The peacekeeping force, stationed in Kabul since the 2001 invasion, has been targeted by suicide bombers before.
(news agencies)