Slain Soldiers

An Airbus A-310 transport aircraft landed Wednesday at Cologne Airport in the west of the country bringing the men's remains on the final leg home from Uzbekistan.

A military memorial service attended by Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung and the families honored the three men who were killed near a bazaar in the Afghan city of Kunduz.

The German military "is making an important contriburtion to security and peace on behalf of the international community," Jung said.

The soldiers, who were in Afghanistan as part of NATO's ISAF coalition forces, were on a weekly shopping trip into Kunduz to buy a refrigerator for their camp.

The attack on German forces on Saturday, which left two more Germans seriously wounded, has triggered criticism in Germany of the US-led campaign to destroy the Taliban in Afghanistan. Critics said the peacekeepers had not brought peace.

The blast also killed five Afghan civilians and the bomber. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Critical injuries

The German survivors were flown home Monday. Two have been kept in a drug-induced coma while they recover.

Chancellor Angela Merkel began a cabinet meeting with a minute of silence for Saturday's three dead and the German parliament was planning a similar gesture for Thursday.

Peter Struck, a senior Social Democrat in the Merkel cabinet and former defense minister, said a debate was needed on Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the US-led war on the Taliban. He said many Afghans had the impression it was being pursued without regard for civilian casualties.

The main German force is far from the fighting in the relatively calm north of Afghanistan, but Germany has lent up to 100 commandoes and aerial reconnaissance for Operation Enduring Freedom.

Defense Minister Jung insisted this would continue, while adding, "We do need to fight terrorism. But we must also react appropriately. Civilian victims undermine our efforts to secure peace and mean we cannot win public support."

Attacks continue

In the latest spate of attacks against ISAF forces, a Finnish soldier was killed and four Norwegian troops were wounded by a roadside bomb while patrolling on foot near Maymana in the north western province of Faryab on Wednesday.

The Finnish defense ministry said the man was a border guard who had served in Afghanistan since last August. He is the first Finnish soldier serving as part of the ISAF to be killed in Afghanistan.

Two of the Norwegian soldiers are reported to have sustained minor injuries, while two were more seriously injured. Norway has in all some 600 soldiers in Afghanistan while Finland has contributed some 100 soldiers.

Also, a German defense ministry spokesperson announced that unidentified attackers had fired rocket-propelled grenades at a German military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday evening but there was no damage or injuries.

The projectiles were fired at a camp in Faizabad, capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who visited Kabul on Tuesday and is currently in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, said there can be no long-term resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan without the cooperation of neighboring Pakistan.