June 12, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1424

KABUL, June 11: Afghanistan faces a long and difficult investigation into the devastating suicide car bombing which killed four German soldiers, after initial accusations that it was the work of the Al Qaeda network.

The inquiry is officially in the hands of the Afghan police, assisted by forensic and explosives experts from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is responsible for security in Kabul.

Police arrived here on Sunday from Germany to help investigate Saturday’s blast which killed four German ISAF troops and wounded 29 others.

German Defence Minister Peter Struck said on Wednesday that the suicide bomber “belonged to the Al Qaeda terror organization”.

Mr Struck added on Germany’s ZDF public television that the attacker was “financially and logistically” connected to former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is trying to destabilize the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The German defence minister said Kabul had pointed the finger at Al Qaeda, based on remarks by his Afghan counterpart, Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

President Karzai on Monday said he “guaranteed” that the bomber was not an Afghan. Germany’s Bild newspaper, citing Western intelligence sources, has reported that the bomber was an Arab with connections to Al Qaeda.

The attack was carried out five kilometres from central Kabul on the main road to the eastern city of Jalalabad.

A taxi packed with between 100 and 500 kilograms of explosives blew up alongside a bus carrying ISAF soldiers to the airport, where they were due to fly home after completing their six-month tour of duty.

An Afghan passerby was also killed in the explosion.

The blast totally destroyed the taxi and threw the bus across the road. The taxi was identified from engine parts and its number plate, according to Afghan police.

Identifying the suicide bomber is a major challenge as only fragments of the attacker’s legs and one hand were found.

“We are at the stage of trying to identify the DNA of the driver,” a source close to the investigation told AFP.

Establishing the identity or even the nationality of the bomber is likely to take some time.

Afghan police have arrested and are questioning the last known owner of the taxi, which was sold three times in the past three months.

He told police he sold the car to an Afghan named Abdul Rashid from Khogiani district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. He is being sought by police.

According to Karzai, it was the first car suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Such an attack bears the hallmarks of al-Qaeda. The timing of the operation, the target, the precision of the blast alongside an ISAF bus carrying soldiers rather than luggage, indicates careful planning, according to the police.

They believe there may have been an accomplice along the route using a radio to alert the bomber.

Other evidence points to research by the attackers: Afghan police say they foiled three attempted attacks against foreigners in the days before the bombing.

Western intelligence sources have suspected that a terrorist cell headed by a foreigner has been operating in Kabul over the past three months.

Afghan police and ISAF received precise warnings of such an attack days before it occurred.

Two days after the attack, the peacekeepers and international organisations received precise new warnings of a further suicide attack using Honda motorbikes or a Japanese car registered in eastern Afghanistan. —AFP