Explosion strikes German convoy in Afghanistan

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-19-03-12-45

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide car bomber struck a German military convoy in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, detonating explosives that killed three Afghan civilians and overturned at least one armored vehicle, according to officials and witnesses.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber blew his vehicle up shortly before 10 a.m. local time on a busy road on the edge of Kunduz city, near the airport. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw at least one overturned armored vehicle and what appeared to be a civilian car that was mangled in the blast.

Three civilians were killed and 11 were wounded in the blast, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

[rabs]

1. Buried in the AP story

Eight NATO service members were killed in Afghanistan the same day. Four died in fighting in the south and east, while another four died in a vehicle accident in the south.

---------------

"Eight NATO service members" more than likely means U.S. Marines or U.S. Army.

Also, that is a heavy toll for "a vehicle accident."

[xchrom]

2. +1

[rabs]

3. Frenchie news agency story on the eight NATO soldiers

(and that the AP story downplayed by burying it)

--------------------------

Eight troops die in a day in Afghanistan: military
(AFP) – 7 hours ago

KABUL — Eight foreign soldiers died in one day in Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, including four in a single incident believed to have been a vehicle accident.

The four died Saturday of "non-battle related injuries" in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

That incident, in a region containing many of Afghanistan's bloodiest battlegrounds, came on a day when ISAF said four other foreign soldiers also died in separate insurgent attacks -- three in the south and one in the east.

In line with policy, ISAF did not give further details of what happened in any of the incidents, or the nationalities of the troops who died. There are 130,000 international forces in Afghanistan, of which 90,000 are from the United States.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j6h_deAYXefRYrBNDuCue-O3JTmw?docId=CNG.69ead26989f7f2ebf65544104f3b136c.751

-----------------------

Btw, tagged a rec to your thread, and it magically disappeared. :shrug: