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Petraeus to meet general hurt in Afghan attack

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Petraeus to meet general hurt in Afghan attack
An archive picture of Gen. Markus Kneip and Gen. Daud. Photo: DPA

Gen. David Petraeus, US commander of the international forces in Afghanistan (ISAF), is to visit German Gen. Markus Kneip after he narrowly survived a deadly attack on Saturday.

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Petraeus travelled to the regional military headquarters at Mazar-i-Sharif on Sunday to meet with Kneip, who is ISAF regional commander for northern Afghanistan. The German general was taken to the field hospital there after being wounded in the bombing.

A German army spokesperson said on Sunday that Kneip was in a stable condition.”He is not in mortal danger,” he said, adding that “considering the circumstances, he is doing well.”

The suicide bombing at the office of the governor of Takhar province killed six people, including the police chief for northern Afghanistan Gen. Mohammed Daud Daud and two German soldiers.

Daud had been attending a meeting about security with Kneip and the governor of Takhar province, Abdul Jabar Taqwa, who was also wounded in the attack.

The commander of the Afghan Army in the region, Gen. Salmai Wesa, told reporters on Sunday that the attacker was likely wearing a police uniform. Police spokesman Lal Mohammed Ahmadsai said that it was too early to tell exactly what caused the deadly blast, saying it was also possible that explosives had been hidden in the building.

However, those who were attending the meeting at the governor’s office in the provincial capital Taloqan, said that the attack was carried out by suicide bomber who had been dressed as a member of the security forces guarding the conference.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told AFP, that the militants had carried out the bombing. "One of our mujahedeen carried out the attack inside the Takhar governor's complex during a meeting about security," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement she was "shocked and saddened by the deaths, and the injuries inflicted on German soldiers, as well as the Afghan victims."

"This terrorist attack is a illustration of a murderous inhumanity," she said, adding that she hoped the Afghan authorities would lead a painstaking investigation so that those "responsible are held to account as quickly as possible."

The Local/DPA/AFP/smd

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