German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroeder condemned as cowardly and underhand a suspected suicide bomb attack on international peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan which killed at least six people, four of them German servicemen.
Afghanistan, Belgium, France, Pakistan and the United States also condemned the attack targeting a bus carrying German members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to Kabul airport, where they were due to leave for home after completing their tour of duty.
"Attacks like this are designed to torpedo the peace process in a country that has been ravaged by over 20 years of war and plunge it back into anarchy," Mr Schroeder said in a statement.
US President George W. Bush telephoned Mr Schroeder from his Camp David retreat "to express his condolences for the deaths of German soldiers during an attack in Afghanistan," the White House said.
"The president and Chancellor Schroeder reinforced their determination to continue to combat terrorism," a spokeswoman added in a telephone conference call with reporters.
German Defence Minister Mr Peter Struck, speaking in Berlin, said four German soldiers had been killed and 29 others injured in the blast.
Mr Struck said the deed would not induce Germany to withdraw its service personnel from Afghanistan. Officers of Germany's federal criminal investigation agency, the BKA, had left for Kabul to conduct investigations, he said.
Afghan President Mr Hamid Karzai offered his condolences and voiced his support for ISAF's work in his country.
AFP