Eight soldiers injured by Taliban attacks

According to the ministry, the first attack occurred when a Bundeswehr convoy came under fire during a patrol. Soldiers engaged the Taliban fighters in a 40-minute firefight. A seriously injured soldier was later flown via helicopter to Mazar-i-Sharif for treatment.

The Bundeswehr’s operational command in Potsdam told news agency DDP that the soldier sustained a head injury.

Just a short time later, another group of soldiers doing reconstruction work in the same region were attacked, the ministry said. Seven were injured in the incident.

“This all shows that the area remains dangerous and tense,” a spokesperson told news agency DPA.

The attacks come two weeks after an air strike called by Bundeswehr Col. Georg Klein killed a reported 30 civilians in Kunduz.

NATO is still investigating the incident and Germany last week issued a round of formal diplomatic protests to fellow allies asking them to refrain from criticising the incident until the inquiry concludes.

Some 4,400 German troops are serving in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).