Bomb kills a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-15 23:15

Purported Taliban spokesmen often claim responsibility for attacks using information that later proves exaggerated or untrue. Hanif's exact link to the Taliban leadership was not clear.

Germany Defense Minister Peter Struck said the attack showed "there is not a stable, quiet situation in Afghanistan" and that the NATO force is still needed.

"We are dealing with a permanent threat," Struck said in Berlin.

The NATO-led force, known as the International Security Assistance Force, has about 12,000 soldiers from 36 nations in Afghanistan and is responsible for security in Kabul as well as northern and western regions of the country. A separate 20,000-strong U.S.-led coalition is in volatile eastern and southern parts of the country.

While 87 U.S. troops have been killed this year, 24 ISAF soldiers have died, 17 of them Spanish military personnel killed when their helicopter crashed in an accident.