By Xinhua,
Berlin : Afghan authorities thwarted a car bomb attack on German troops based in northern Afghanistan last week, the German Defense Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
German Defense Ministry spokesman Dietrich Jensch said that two men, a Pakistani and a Tajik, were arrested outside the northern Afghan town of Masar-i-sharif, where Germany’s 3,200 troops were based. They were found driving a car with up to 300 kilograms of explosives stuffed in the vehicle’s doors and floor.
The German private television news channel N24 reported that the two men have confessed and have been sentenced to be hanged.
The German troops are under the command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Berlin has been resisting pressure from its NATO allies to move its troops from the relatively stable northern Afghanistan to the south of the country where the situation is more dangerous because of Taliban insurgency.