Returning from Afghanistan on Friday, Germany Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had his plane redirected to Istanbul. The minister left the ISAF camp in Masar-i-Sharif after the disruption to European airspace had already begun, but Guttenberg hoped he would nonetheless make it back to Germany.

The defense minister was travelling with five Bundeswehr soldiers wounded in a Taliban attack in northern Afghanistan on Thursday.

The group was first taken to a German military base in Uzbekistan to board a medical transport carrier heading towards Europe. The soldiers were meant to be brought to military hospitals in Germany to ensure that they would receive optimal care.

With the plane redirected to Turkey, the soldiers have spent the night at a US hospital in Istanbul and are to continue to Germany only at a later stage. Guttenberg on Saturday continued his way back to Germany albeit it remained unclear by which means of transportation.

An ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland on Friday spread over most of Europe, leading to more than half of all flights being cancelled. Germany's entire airspace is affected by the problem, which has caused all major airports to be shut down.

Funeral for fallen soldiers set for Sunday

Guttenberg had been scheduled to return to Germany on Thursday after a two-day visit to Afghanistan. While in transit in Uzbekistan, however, he was notified of the bloody attack - which killed four Bundeswehr soldiers. The minister subsequently returned to Afghanistan with the Bundeswehr's chief of staff, Volker Wieker.

Guttenberg visited the wounded soldiers at the German military base in Masar-i-Sharif on Friday as they waited for a military aircraft equipped with proper medical equipment to bring them back to Germany.

Bundeswehr officials report that the wounded troops are all in stable condition. While four of the five soldiers have sustained serious injuries, these are not believed to be life-threatening.

Wieker is scheduled to stay on in Afghanistan to attend the funeral service for the four soldiers, which is planned for Sunday in the Masar-i-Sharif camp.

Explosive, not rocket, triggered Thursday's ambush

The latest German casualties came after a Bundeswehr patrol came under attack travelling between Kunduz and Baghlan on Thursday.

After initially reporting that the deadly ambush began when a German armored vehicle was struck by a rocket close to Pol-i-Khomri camp, Germany's defense ministry on Friday corrected this, saying the attackers used a remotely detonated explosive device.

Three Bundeswehr soldiers died in the initial explosion, with the fourth killed in an ensuing battle, in which the ISAF troops are believed to have come under mortar and gunfire.

A total of 43 German soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan since the Bundeswehr mission began in 2002. Of those, 26 have been killed in firefights or insurgent attacks.

In recent weeks, Taliban insurgents have stepped up pressure on the German troops based in the northern province of Kunduz. On April 2, three German soldiers were killed during a mine-clearing expedition.

ai/glb/AFP/dpa
Editor: Chuck Penfold