Germany vows to continue reconstruction in Afghanistan, despite suicide attack

Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Saturday to continue with reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan after a suicide attacker killed three German soldiers and wounded two others at a market in Kunduz.

"The German military is carrying out an important mission for the reconstruction and stabilization of Afghanistan," Merkel said in a statement. "It is the goal of the attackers to destroy the established successes of this rebuilding process. The international community is resolved to continue to help the people of Afghanistan ensure a good future for their country through reconstruction."

Gen. Noor Mohammad Omarkhail, the deputy provincial police chief of the area including Kunduz, said three German soldiers were killed and two were wounded when a suicide attacker detonated himself in a crowded market in the northern Afghan city. In addition, Afghan officials said seven civilians were killed and 15 wounded.

"These perfidious murders fill us all with disgust and horror," Merkel said. "Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of our soldiers and the Afghan civilians who died. We wish the wounded a rapid recovery."

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the three German soldiers killed and two seriously injured had been part of a group of 10 soldiers and one German policeman that was attacked. He said others in the group received light injuries, including their Afghan interpreter.

The two seriously injured soldiers were expected to be brought back to Germany Sunday for medical attention, said Jung, who broke short a personal trip to Denmark to return to Germany after he received the news.

He added that Germany would not alter its course in Afghanistan.

"We will fulfill our mission," he said, speaking at the military's command center for deployments abroad outside of Berlin.

Germany's 3,000 troops with ISAF are responsible for northern Afghanistan, which sees relatively few attacks and is considered a much safer region than southern or eastern Afghanistan, where most of the country's fighting takes place.

Germany has resisted pressure from other NATO countries to send combat troops to the south, saying the mission in the north is also important.

"The attack again underscores that there is no quiet or safe zone," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. "The mission that the German military has taken up in the north of the country is a central component of the stabilization of Afghanistan."