Kabul Shootings
February 11, 2009
Germany Foreign Minister was quick to express his country's horror at what he called the "murderous attacks."
"The apparent goal of this cowardly attack is to undermine the ability to function of important pillars of the fledgling Afghan state," Steinmeier said in his official statement. "That cannot be allowed to happen."
The Afghan Interior Ministry said that in the morning of Wednesday, February 11, three sets of Taliban suicide gunmen attacked four government buildings.
A lone attacker was killed by Afghan police at the country's Ministry of Education, but the other two groups at the Justice Ministry and the Prisons Authority gunned down Afghan security forces and civilian employees before being killed themselves.
Steinmeier expressed sympathy for the victims' families and promised that Germany would continue its efforts to promote a better Afghanistan.
"Germany and its partners will remain committed to the creation of an Afghan state that guarantees its citizens security and freedom," Steinmeier said.
The attacks came a month after a suicide bombing outside the German embassy in Kabul that left five people dead.
Allies' Solidarity
Germany has some 3,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) that is trying to establish postwar peace in the country.
ISAF commander General David McKiernan said the attacks were "callous" and "indiscriminate."
"Once again the Taliban have displayed that they have no respect for Afghan citizens or any desire to see a peaceful future in Afghanistan," McKiernan said in an official statement.
One French soldier was also killed in Wednesday in battles with rebels to the southwest of Kabul, but that violence was not immediately linked to the Kabul attacks.
The new US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, is expected to visit Kabul next week.
US President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that he wants to focus the international struggle against terrorism on Afghanistan and is expected to announce an increase in American troops there in the not-too-distant future.