Two powerful bombings rocked the southern Afghan city of Kandahar Thursday, killing three foreigners and three Afghan soldiers, according to President Hamid Karzai's half brother. Meanwhile, four German soldiers were killed in fighting in the north. NATO forces are gearing up for a major operation this summer in Kandahar – the largest city in the Taliban-ridden south and birthplace of the movement. The more powerful of the two explosions in Kandahar occurred after sundown when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at the inner security barrier of a compound shared by several Western companies, according to Ahmad Wali Karzai, the president's half brother and main power broker in southern Afghanistan. The Germans were killed when a rocket slammed into their “Eagle” armored vehicle during heavy fighting Thursday with Taliban militants in Baghlan province, the German Defense Ministry said. Five other German soldiers were wounded.
