Taliban fighters killed a German peacekeeper and three Afghans in two suicide car bomb attacks while British troops opened fire to repel a threat to their camp in the Afghan capital today, officials and witnesses said.
The blasts came close to an hour apart on the same stretch of road east of Kabul. On each occasion the attackers rammed a car into a vehicle belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"Both of the incidents were suicide acts," General Mahboub Amiri, chief of the capital's rapid reaction police force, told reporters.
The latest violence coincided with rejection by the Taliban, ousted from power by a US-led force in 2001, of President Hamid Karzai's call to halt insurgency and join a national reconciliation process.
Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah told Reuters via satellite telephone from an undisclosed location: "We have plans for more of the same." Monday's first blast killed the German soldier, and wounded two others, according to ISAF spokesman Major Andrew Elmes.
Three Afghan civilians were also wounded, local officials said. Shortly afterwards, three Afghans, including a young boy who Elmes said succumbed to injuries, were killed in another attack on Jalalabad Road, where several ISAF contingents have bases. Police said another two peacekeepers were wounded, while witnesses said two Afghan journalists were also hurt.
In Athens, a Greek defence ministry source said two Greek soldiers were slightly injured when insurgents attacked their vehicle just outside Kabul. Greece has 130 soldiers in the NATO-led force.
British Defence Minister John Reid said a camp for British troops had also come under threat. "I can also tell the House that British troops have opened fire in order to prevent unauthorised entry to ... a camp in Kabul," Mr Reid told parliament.