German, Danish bodies flying home

The troops were killed trying to destroy two Russian-made SA-3 missiles like these

BERLIN, Germany -- The bodies of five dead German and Danish peacekeepers killed in an ordnance-clearing accident in Afghanistan are being flown home.

In an emotional ceremony at the German base in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Carl Hubertus von Butler said the two German and three Danish soldiers had not died in vain.

Butler, commander of the German contingent, said the deaths would not deter his country from playing a role in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

"These comrades had come together with us to Afghanistan on a mission to assist this country gain a future in peace and regain a place as a respected member of the international community," he said. "They have given their lives for this mission."

German, Danish and Austrian peacekeepers lined up before the coffins, decorated with photographs of the deceased, accompanied by music by Bach.

The coffins were then carried by truck to Kabul airport where soldiers of the 5,000-strong ISAF -- which includes 1,250 Germans and 10 Danes -- made a guard of honour.

The coffins of the five dead, draped in their national flags, are flying to Cologne via Termez, Uzbekistan, aboard a German military plane. The Danish bodies will be flown to Denmark from Cologne.

Eight peacekeepers were also wounded, three of them seriously, in Wednesday's accident involving two Soviet-era surface to air SA-3 missiles. The missiles had accidentally exploded when the soldiers were preparing to destroy them in Kabul.

The injured soldiers -- five German and three Danish -- were in Kabul hospitals or on their way back to Germany and Denmark on military flights. (Full story)

In a separate incident a French soldier was injured in a similar incident on Friday.

An ISAF team investigating the accident involving the Germans and Danes have made a fingertip search of the scene, an isolated stretch of barren ground two kilometres (1.5 miles) from where the soldiers were based.

In Berlin, German army chief Harald Kujat told reporters the exact cause of the blast was unknown: "The detonation seems to have gone off early ... even though all procedures had been followed."

The deaths were the first among ISAF since its arrival in December to maintain order in areas of Afghanistan liberated from Taliban rule.