The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan that has killed two senior Afghan police commanders, two German soldiers, and two other Afghans.
The blast on May 28 in Taloqan, capital of Takhar Province, was reportedly carried out by a bomber who was able to slip through security checks and attack a meeting of political and military leaders at the provincial governor's complex.
Those killed included General Mohammad Daud Daud, the police chief for northern Afghanistan and a former deputy interior minister who was also been a close associate of the deceased mujahedin commander Ahmad Shah Masud.
The commander of NATO forces for northern Afghanistan, German General Markus Kneip, survived the attack, but was injured. Takha Province Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa was also injured in the attack.
German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the security partnership between NATO-led troops and Afghan forces.
"These assassins want to destroy these kind of partnerships. They must and will not succeed," de Maiziere said.
"These assassins and their leaders are criminal murderers and political criminals to the peaceful development process for the freedom of Afghanistan. They won't have the last word. We won't abandon our way of our partnership."
The attack was also condemned by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called it a "barbaric act of terror."
compiled from agency reports
The blast on May 28 in Taloqan, capital of Takhar Province, was reportedly carried out by a bomber who was able to slip through security checks and attack a meeting of political and military leaders at the provincial governor's complex.
Those killed included General Mohammad Daud Daud, the police chief for northern Afghanistan and a former deputy interior minister who was also been a close associate of the deceased mujahedin commander Ahmad Shah Masud.
The commander of NATO forces for northern Afghanistan, German General Markus Kneip, survived the attack, but was injured. Takha Province Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa was also injured in the attack.
German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the security partnership between NATO-led troops and Afghan forces.
"These assassins want to destroy these kind of partnerships. They must and will not succeed," de Maiziere said.
"These assassins and their leaders are criminal murderers and political criminals to the peaceful development process for the freedom of Afghanistan. They won't have the last word. We won't abandon our way of our partnership."
The attack was also condemned by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called it a "barbaric act of terror."
compiled from agency reports