Explosion in Afghanistan kills three Germans

---

BAGRAMI, Afghanistan, AUG 15 (AP): An explosion near a two-vehicle convoy killed three German nationals Wednesday on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, police officials said.
Kabul deputy police chief Zalmay Khan said three German soldiers were killed in the blast, but the German Defence ministry denied that the victims were soldiers.
The explosion near the convoy, which was traveling on an unpaved road about 10 kilometres (6 miles) southeast of Kabul, turned one of the two vehicles onto its side and left it badly damaged. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it was aware of an explosion near a military base but didn't know how many casualties there were. The force said it believed the blast was caused by a land mine.
After the explosion, two helicopters arrived at the scene. One took the bodies away, said Mohammad Sharif, a witness who has a shop near the area.
Later, French troops with anti-mine equipment and US troops arrived at the scene. Afghan police kept reporters from getting close to the site, as forensic experts collected evidence. Afghanistan has suffered nearly three decades of civil war and conflict, and is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.
Separately, US-led coalition and Afghan troops clashed with militants in central Logar province Tuesday, killing nine suspected militants, the Interior Ministry said. No police or coalition troops were wounded in the clash, it said.
Meanwhile, North Korea's state media seized on the kidnapping of South Koreans in Afghanistan to condemn Seoul's alliance with Washington Wednesday, laying the blame for the case on the US war on terror.
"Such (a) tragic case would not have occurred if the US had not launched the brigandish 'war on terrorism' in Afghanistan and introduced South Korea into there to meet its own interests of domination and greed," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper wrote in a commentary.
Nineteen South Korean church volunteers remain held by the Taliban, following the killings of two men and the release of two women. They have been captive since July 19 when taken from a bus while driving in southern Afghanistan.
South Korea has deployed about 200 troops for Afghan reconstruction efforts but is set to withdraw them by the end of the year according to previously made plans.
"The US egoistic and arrogant nature and its policy of despising South Korea are evidenced again by the case," the newspaper wrote, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.