German, Danish bodies arrive home

A Danish coffin arrives in Germany before the last stage of the journey home

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- The bodies of five soldiers -- two German and three Danes -- killed in the Afghan capital Kabul last week have been brought back to relatives.

In Denmark grieving families met the coffins carrying the Danish servicemen, while in Cologne the German bodies were greeted with a guard of honour.

The five soldiers died on Wednesday when an explosion went off while they were trying to defuse anti-aircraft missiles in Kabul. (Full story)

In Denmark about 20 relatives watched as the coffins, of lance corporals Brian Juul Noerloev Andersen, 26, and Kim Carlsen, 35, draped in the Danish flag were removed from a military transport plane at Vaerloese Air Force Base.

A guard of honour from the Engineering battalion stood in silence as the coffins were removed.

A similar scene was played out in Karup, 170 miles northwest of Copenhagen, for Sgt. Thomas Kruse Butzkowsky.

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. An investigation is being carried out into the cause.

The deaths were the first among the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since its arrival in December to maintain order in areas of Afghanistan liberated from Taliban rule.

At the German base in Afghanistan, Hubertus von Butler, commander of the German ISAF troops, said the men had not died in vain.

"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. They have given their lives for this mission."