Four German soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL/BERLIN - Four German soldiers were killed Thursday in one of the deadliest attacks ever on German forces in northern Afghanistan, Afghan government and German officials said.

Hours later, the Germans were still trying to pin down the attackers, Germany’s Afghan command near Berlin said.

Five others were wounded in the clash, in which a German armoured patrol was set upon with rockets, according to the German and Taliban accounts. The German command said it was not known if any of the Taliban fighters had been killed when their forces returned fire.

The deaths raise Germany’s death toll in Afghan fighting and bombings to 26. If accidental deaths are included, Germany has now lost 43 soldiers in the Afghan conflict.

Germany had said Wednesday that it would be deploying long-range tracked artillery into Afghanistan in response to growing attacks from the Taliban.

The latest attack happened while a joint Afghan and NATO operation that began Wednesday was under way against militants in the Baghlan- e-Markazi district of the northern province of Baghlan, Dadullah Mahsoumi, the provincial police chief, said.