German soldier killed in Afghanistan as foreign minister in Kabul for talks with leaders

German soldier killed in Afghanistan

BERLIN — A German soldier was killed during an attack on a patrol in Afghanistan on Wednesday as Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier held talks with the nation’s leader in Kabul.

Four other German soldiers were lightly wounded when a patrol came under fire northwest of Kunduz, the Defense Ministry said. No further information was immediately available.

Earlier in the day, Steinmeier arrived for a previously unannounced two-day tour that included a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, his foreign and interior ministers, and international representatives in Afghanistan.

Shortly afterward, a suicide bomber lightly injured five German soldiers in a separate attack, also near Kunduz.

Steinmeier insisted that Germany would not allow the attacks to deter it from carrying out its mission in the Central Asian nation. Some 3,750 German troops are stationed in Afghanistan, where they serve in the relatively peaceful north.

Wednesday’s fatal attack brought to 32 the total number of German soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since the country’s mission there began in 2002, including 15 who died in attacks.

Steinmeier’s trip follows an April 6 visit to Afghanistan by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She visited German bases in the north but did not go to Kabul.