Paratrooper dead

The paratrooper was badly wounded on August 6, 2008, when a motorcycle rider stopped next to him, then blew himself up. The burns on his skin and lungs eventually proved too severe, and he died late on Sunday night in hospital in Mainz.

Another soldier was gravely injured, and a third slightly wounded during the attack, which took place just south of Kunduz, a town where Germany has one of its biggest military bases in Afghanistan. The region, once considered a relative safe haven in the country, has become more and more violent of late.

Thirty-six German soldiers have now been killed during the ISAF-led mission in Afghanistan, a military engagement that - according to opinion polls - is unpopular amongst the German public. Roughly 4,200 German troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan.

Testing times

Over the weekend, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on member states to stay the course in Afghanistan, and advocated a troop surge in a bid to bring the country back under control.

The Taliban insurgency in the country has been gaining in strength and attacking more frequently in recent months.

On Saturday, Taliban fighters overran a remote NATO outpost at dawn, killing eight US soldiers and two Afghan troops. The attack, in the troubled eastern Nuristan province, was the deadliest since 10 French troops died in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan over a year ago.

msh/Reuters/AP/dpa

Editor: Nancy Isenson