Two German soldiers and five Afghan children have died in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan, capping a day of bloodshed which also saw a British woman aid worker gunned down on the streets of Kabul.

A third soldier and a civilian were injured in the suicide attack, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) confirmed.

The Germans were on foot patrol in Kunduz province when the bomber rode up to them on a bicycle and triggered his explosives, according to Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor of Kunduz.

“The blast took place on a main road. This is the work of terrorists. We have arrested two suspects in relation to the incident,” said Mr Omar.

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The difficulty for aid workers is that they need to travel around, but are reluctant to seek military protection for fear of compromising their independence

Michael Evans, Defence Editor

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Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taleban, claimed reponsibility for the attack on behalf of the militants, and said that a dozen foreign soldiers were killed.

Violence in Kunduz, to the north of Afghanistan, has been on the increase recently as the Taleban have spread their influence from their bases along the Pakistan border to the south.

It was the second suicide attack in Afghanistan today after another bomber, aged about 15, walked up to an armoured Afghan army vehicle in the southern town of Lashkar Gah and detonated the bombs strapped to his body, badly damaging the vehicle but killing only himself.

Militants have also killed Afghan five policemen, including a district police chief, in a separate incident in Faryab province today, according to Deputy Governor Abdul Satar.

The deaths, and the murder of Gayle Williams in Kabul, follow a defeat for Taleban forces overnight near Lashkar Gar, the Helmand provincial capital.

Isaf and Afghan troops were reported to have killed more than 30 insurgents and recovered weapons, ammunition, motobikes and other vehicles used by the Taleban, in a raid.

Last week, Taleban fighters launched several barrages of rocket and mortar fire into Lashkar Gah.

Militants have been expanding their influence outward from their traditional bases in the country’s south and east, along the border with Pakistan, and have gained territory in the provinces surrounding Kabul, a worrying development for Afghan and NATO troops.

Those advances are part of the reason that US and British generals have warned that the international mission to defeat the Taleban is in peril, and why NATO generals have called for a sharp increase in the number of troops.

Some 65,000 international troops now operate in Afghanistan, including about 32,000 Americans. Keeping Berlin’s 3,300-strong contingent in Afghanistan is already unpopular in Germany and today's deaths will likely only increase calls for them to be withdrawn and put further strain on the Nato alliance. Thirty German soldiers have now died in Afghanistan.

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