Afghan War: German Special Forces Soldier Among Eight NATO Service Members Slain

Deutsche Welle
May 5, 2013
Eight NATO soldiers, one German, killed in Afghanistan attacks

The German military says one of its soldiers was killed and another wounded in an insurgent attack in northern Afghanistan on Saturday. A total of eight NATO soldiers were killed in separate attacks on the same day.
In a statement released on Sunday, the German military, or Bundeswehr, confirmed one of its special forces soldiers was killed during a joint operation with Afghan forces near the northern city of Baghlan. The statement says insurgents opened fire on the Afghan and NATO International Security Assistance Force troops.
“In the subsequent battle damage assessment the Afghan and ISAF forces again came under fire,” the Bundeswehr said.
“A German soldier was killed and a German soldier wounded.”

Earlier on Saturday, five US soldiers were killed by a Tabliban roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, while two other NATO troops were shot dead by an Afghan army soldier in the west of the country.
Saturday’s attacks are the latest against foreign troops since the Taliban began their spring offensive a week ago. However NATO has said that most shootings arise from cultural misunderstandings or personal grudges rather than militant plots.
Last week, three British soldiers were killed when their armored vehicle hit a bomb in the southern province of Helmand.

jr/hc (AFP, AP, dpa)

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