A Taliban commander with links to the killers of several British soldiers has escaped from German special forces because they were not allowed to shoot.

Elite soldiers from the German KSK had been charged with capturing the terrorist. After spending weeks searching for him, in cooperation with the Afghan army and secret service, they discovered that he was located near the town of Pol-e-Khomri in the north of Afghanistan.

Wearing night-vision goggles, the German team came within a few hundred metres of his hideout before they were discovered by Taliban forces.

It is unclear precisely what happened next, but the Berlin government will not let its soldiers fire shots in Afghanistan in any situation other than self-defence. . . and the Taliban chief escaped.

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If the German soldiers had opened fire they could have ended up on a murder charge.

The incident was reported yesterday by the German news magazine Der Spiegel which warned: 'The man and his network are active once again.'

It quoted an 'incredulous' British officer in Kabul as saying: 'The Germans are allowing the most dangerous people to get away and increasing the danger for the Afghans and all foreign forces here.'

The Taliban commander was known as the Bagh lan Bomber after masterminding an attack last year in Baghlan province in which 79 people died.

Nato sources say he has organised roadside bombs in other areas which have struck British military convoys, causing deaths.

One British Special Forces source said: 'This is very embarrassing, particularly for the soldiers on the ground who are very professional and dedicated men, but they know they must obey the orders of their government. The blame here lies with the politicians, not the men on the ground.'

Full article here.