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Five Troops Die in Kabul Accident
Wednesday, March 6, 2002
(2:10 PM ET) (19:10 GMT)
The Cable News Network

The accident involved an SA-3 missile, similar to those pictured.
Image Credit: The Associated Press.

"Despite the accident it is important the work in Afghanistan continues. It is still important that we contribute to the fight against international terror," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- CNN
Five peacekeepers -- three Danes and two Germans -- have been killed and seven injured in an operation to defuse anti-aircraft missiles in Kabul.

The SA-3 surface-to-air missile was taken to a demolition range in the Afghan capital on Wednesday to be defused with a controlled detonation, but it exploded before staff had cleared the area, German army chief Harald Kujat told reporters in Berlin, Germany.

Five German soldiers were also injured, three of them seriously, he said. The Danish prime minister said two of its peackeepers were wounded.

German Embassy sources in Kabul said some of the injured were taken to an International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) field hospital.

"It has happened to soldiers who are alert and prepared for such accidents, but obviously one is not always prepared," Kujat said.

ISAF sources said British forces were also involved in the operation.
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