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German troops wounded in Afghanistan

A powerful roadside bomb blast has wounded at least four German troops in Afghanistan amid rising attacks against US-led forces in the country.

NATO said on Monday the soldiers were injured when an improvised explosive device in northern Konduz province struck their armored military vehicle.

A spokesman with the US-led alliance in Konduz confirmed the incident.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying four German soldiers were killed in the blast.

Germany has about 5,000 soldiers in the relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan, making it the third-largest foreign contingent after the US and the UK.

US President Barack Obama wants Germany to add thousands of more troops and to increase its geographical span to include the volatile south and east.

The rising number of casualties has increased opposition to the Afghan war in the member states of the western military alliance.

The 2001 US-led invasion was launched with the objective of brining peace and stability to Afghanistan. Nine years on, however, Taliban militancy has reached new heights and civilians continue to pay the price.

The mounting death toll has raised fears that 2010 could become the deadliest year for US-led forces in Afghanistan since the invasion of the country in 2001.

The violent incidents and rising fatalities in Afghanistan come despite a massive troop surge in the war-torn country.

Some 140,000 US and NATO troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan. A further 10,000 are expected to be deployed there in the coming weeks.

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