German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned on Friday the Taliban ambush on German soldiers in northern Afghanistan earlier in the day, which killed three soldiers and injured at least five others.
"With great sadness, I have heard of the monstrous and coward attack on our troops in Afghanistan," Merkel said. "My sympathy is with all the families of the fallen and wounded soldiers in this very difficult time."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle expressed his sympathy to the families of the victims. "I condemn that sneaky attack directed not only against German soldiers but also against all the Afghan people," he said in a statement.
German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said "the fighting of this scale has clearly showed how dangerous the necessary mission in Afghanistan is."
The minister has cut short his Easter holiday in South Africa, and will come back to Germany soon, a spokesman of German defense ministry said.
A spokesman of the German military operations command in Potsdam confirmed the soldiers were patrolling in district of Chahar Dara, southwest of Kunduz city when they were attacked by the ambushed Taliban militants.
The German soldiers were attacked by heavy fires including rocket-propelled grenades, he added.
The attack on Friday afternoon was the first deadly fighting for German troops in Afghanistan this year. Before the fighting, 36 German soldiers had been killed in the war-torn country since Berlin sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002.
Germany currently has some 4,500 troops in Afghanistan for the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF.
Source: Xinhua
