BERLIN, May 5 (Reuters) - A member of Germany's special forces has been killed in Afghanistan, the army said on Sunday, the first German soldier to die in the country in almost two years and capping off one of the bloodiest weeks for international troops this year.
Violence is intensifying across Afghanistan before the planned withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of next year, and there is growing concern over how Afghan security forces will manage once they leave.
In the seven days to Saturday, when the German soldier was killed by insurgents in Baghlan province, 22 foreign troops died in Afghanistan and three American soldiers died supporting the Afghan mission in Kyrgyzstan.
The toll included the deaths of seven U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan on Saturday in two separate attacks.
Almost 4,200 German soldiers are still serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The latest death brought the number of German soldiers killed in the country to 53. The last German soldier to die was in June 2011. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold, additional reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman in Kabul, writing by Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Pravin Char)
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