Investigation into death of German/Danish soldiers, aftermath

(7 Mar 2002) A formal investigation began in Kabul on Thursday into the causes of an explosion in which five international peacekeepers - two Germans and three Danes - were killed. The soldiers were attempting to destroy two Russian-made SA-3 ground-to-air missiles with a controlled explosion at a munitions collection point about five kilometres (three miles) from the German military's base in Kabul, according to General Harald Kujat, Germany's top military officer. Their deaths were the first among the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since its arrival in December to maintain order following the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime. Another five German and three Danish peacekeepers were injured in the blast. Officials have cordoned off the area in hills east of Kabul where the explosion occurred. Danish and German forensic specialists are scheduled to arrive and survey the site on Friday. Later on Thursday, the German peacekeeping contingent planned to hold a moment of silence at their base in Kabul, a spokesman for the German peacekeepers said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...