Kabul blast to be investigated

German troops are engaged in mine clearance operations

A commission of experts from Germany and Denmark will fly to Afghanistan to investigate the deaths of five peacekeepers in an explosion on Wednesday.

Three Danish and two German soldiers died and eight others were injured while destroying two Russian-made SA-3 ground-to-air missiles at a munitions dump in the capital, Kabul.

Rudolf Scharping: Deep sympathy for families

German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping said the investigation was "in the interests of the protection of the soldiers we deploy in Afghanistan and elsewhere and also those we will deploy in the future".

An initial report is expected within two days.

The eight injured soldiers - five German and three Danish - are now out of danger and are being flown to Cologne later on Thursday.

Military risks

Mr Scharping his "deep sympathy" for the victims and their families.

Main Isaf troop contributors

UK 1800

Germany 770

Holland 200

Denmark 40

Austria 30

He said the incident had demonstrated "the risks of every military deployment".

On Wednesday Mr Scharping cut short a trip to Djibouti, where he was visiting German naval forces, to return to Berlin.

German army chief Harald Kujat has stressed that the deaths were accidental and the soldiers were experienced and well-trained.

According to Spiegel online, the explosion took place as the soldiers were putting the ground-to-air missiles and other smaller munitions into a ditch.

Commitment unchanged

After Wednesday's incident, the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was quick to stress that the soldiers had died in non-confrontational circumstances.

"What happened was a tragic accident," he said. "It had nothing to do with a military conflict."

He said there was no reason to question Germany's participation in the security force.

The Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has also said that Denmark's commitment to the peacekeeping mission is not affected.