AFGHANISTAN: Germany last night vowed not to pull its peacekeeping troops out of Afghanistan, a day after a suicide bomber killed four German soldiers and an Afghan civilian in Kabul and injured 31 soldiers. It was the deadliest attack on international forces so far.
Officials said there was no prospect of international troops leaving. "Let's make it absolutely clear that Isaf [the International Security Force in Afghanistan] is here in Kabul because the situation is not yet stable and not yet 100 per cent safe," said a German spokesman for the force, Lieut-Col Thomas Lobbering, yesterday. "We will not step back a single step." The bomber struck on Saturday morning, soon after a military bus carrying German troops left their headquarters in the east of the city. He drove his taxi next to the vehicle and then blew himself up.
The soldiers were part of the 5,000-strong Isaf, which has been based in Kabul since the Taliban's fall 18 months ago.
The bombing was almost certainly the work of Taliban or al-Qaeda activists who are trying to overthrow the regime of Afghanistan's pro-US leader, Mr Hamid Karzai.
Yesterday, Isaf officials admitted they had received intelligence "for months" that suicide car bombers could strike, but said they had received no specific threat at the weekend. "There is no day without warnings. So the question that the military here has to answer is how to judge these warnings," said Col Lobbering. "What I can tell you is we take them all very seriously." The bombing graphically demonstrates the Taliban's ability to strike in the heart of the Afghan capital, and at President Karzai's struggling interim government.
In recent months, Taliban have regrouped in the south and east of the country, where they have carried out numerous attacks on US military bases and pro-government militia.
The "indications" were that al-Qaeda was behind the suicide attack, said Germany's Defence Minister, Mr Peter Struck.
The chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, described the bombing as "cowardly and devious". The German soldiers on board the bus had just finished a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
"Due to the fact that they all wore their flakjackets, the number of people killed, luckily, is much less than one could expect otherwise," said Col Lobbering. Some 25 wounded soldiers arrived back in Germany for treatment yesterday.
Afghan officials have said they stand little chance of capturing those responsible, but have suggested the involvement of the rebel pro-Taliban warlord, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. In London last week Mr Karzai said the Taliban no longer posed a threat to Afghanistan. "But as individuals and groups, they have the capability to hit as terrorists," he said.