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German soldiers presumed dead in Afghan blast
KABUL, June 26 (Reuters) - Two German soldiers from Afghanistan's NATO-led peacekeeping force are believed dead and another was wounded in a munitions explosion in northern Afghanistan at the weekend. Several Afghan civilians were also hurt in the blast near an airfield in Takhar province on Saturday afternoon while an ammunition store was being moved and prepared for destruction, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force said."The soldiers are reported missing and presumed dead -- it was a huge explosion," said the spokesman, Major Joe Bowman. The missing and wounded soldiers were identified as Germans by a German army spokesman late on Saturday. The incident happened in the town of Rustaq, a district capital about 300 km (190 miles) north of Kabul. "The ISAF soldiers were observing the operation when the explosion occurred," an ISAF statement said. Fourteen German peacekeeping soldiers have previously been reported killed in Afghanistan, including four in a June 2003 suicide attack on a bus filled with German troops headed to an airport on their way home. Two died in 2002 along with three Danes in an accident at a munitions site in Kabul.
Posted by: True German Ally 2005-06-26 |
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