An ISAF soldier stands guard as U.S. warns the security threat in the country remained "high"

BERLIN, May 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – One German peacekeeping soldier was killed and another injured Thursday, May 29, when their vehicle drove over a mine in Kabul, as a group of unknown gunmen attacked a U.S. Special Operations Forces unit in the southwest Afghanistan.

"One German soldier was killed and another one injured, when their vehicle drove over the explosive device at around 1:00 pm (0830 GMT)," Lieutenant Colonel Paul Kolken, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The injured soldier was medically evacuated by helicopter to Camp Warehouse Multinational Brigade hospital," he said, referring to the main ISAF base in Kabul. The soldier had been treated and was in stable condition.

"A third soldier trapped within a suspected minefield was rescued," he said.

"It was not immediately known whether it was old mine or a new deliberately placed one," Kolken said, adding that an investigation was under way.

Commenting on the incident, German Defence Minister Peter Struck said that the mine explosion did not appear to have been an attack.

"There is no indication of an attack," Struck said at a hastily arranged press conference in Berlin after the blast in Kabul.

After 23 years of war, Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with unexploded ordnance responsible for maiming or killing hundreds of people every year.

In a statement issued shortly after the incident, the peacekeeping force described the death as "saddening".

"This tragedy, coming whilst ISAF is still grieving the loss of 62 Spanish colleagues, has saddened the military community greatly," statement said.

Thursday's death brings to 76 the total number of ISAF personnel killed on active service since the peacekeeping force was established in December 2001 following the fall of the Taliban.

Some 29 nations contribute to the 4,600-strong force which is currently under joint German-Dutch command.

U.S. Troops Under Attack

In another development, a group of unknown gunmen attacked a U.S. Special Operations Forces unit in the southwest Afghanistan but there were no U.S. casualties, AFP quoted a US military spokesman as saying Thursday.

"A Special Operations unit came under small arms fire in the vicinity of the fire base at Gereshk late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon from an unknown sized element," Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at Bagram Air Base, 50 Kilometres (31 miles) north of Kabul.

Davis said there were no casualties but it was not known whether any of the attackers were wounded or killed in the exchange of gunfire at Gereshk in Helmand province 520 kilometres (325 miles) southwest of Kabul.

Meanwhile a U.S. base in the southeastern province of Paktia came under rocket attack but there were no casualties, the colonel said.

"Two rockets impacted in the fire base at Gardez yesterday afternoon. There were no casualties or damage to equipment," Davis said.

U.S.-led forces and pro-government troops regularly come under attack from suspected Taliban remnants and their al-Qaeda allies, mainly in southeastern Afghanistan, which was the former heartland of the ousted Taliban regime.

Security Fears

Meanwhile, the United States warned Thursday its citizens of danger stalking the roads of Afghanistan on Thursday, following another spate of violence in the country.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul said in a warden message that it continued to receive threats against foreigners travelling on highways between Kabul and Jalalabad, Kabul and Kandahar, and Kabul and Logar.

"Travel by Embassy personnel is closely monitored on these roads and we urge the private American community to use appropriate caution when traveling by land through these areas," it said.

In its latest travel warning for Afghanistan, issued last month, the State Department warned that the security threat in the country remained "high" and that remnants of the former Taliban regime, al-Qaeda elements were active.

U.S. troops still battling holdouts from the former regime and international peacekeepers come under frequent fire.

In the latest incident reported Thursday unidentified gunmen attacked U.S. special forces in southwest Afghanistan.

International aid groups have curtailed operations in some areas over security fears.

Two Taliban killed

Meanwhile, two suspected Taliban gunmen were killed in a clash with Afghan security forces in southwest Afghanistan, a local official said Thursday.

"Two armed Taliban were killed in an operation in Mirani village of Mirzan district," said Mohammad Naseem Jon, secretary for Zabul provincial governor Hameedullah Tokhi.

Mirzan is 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of Zabul capital Qalat, 340 kilometres (210 miles) southwest of the Afghan capital Kabul.

"Based on intelligence reports we received from the ministry of the interior and the ministry of defence we surrounded the village," Jon told AFP by telephone.

There have been several clashes between pro-government forces and suspected Taliban remnants in Zabul.

However, there is some sort of “political competition” between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Defense Minister Mohammad Qassim Fahim as regards the stance of Taliban remnants.

Fahim, from the Tajiks, wants to crack down hard on Taliban, as Karzai, from the Pashtuns, has recently adopted a policy of wooing Taliban moderate figures.

Political analysts said that Karzai’s policy towards Taliban, who are also from the Pashtuns, was aimed primarily at entrenching his political foothold in the war-torn country.