Berlin/Kabul - Employees at the German embassy in Kabul were among the injured in a suicide bomb blast which took place near the diplomatic compound Saturday, killing at least four and wounding dozens.

A spokesman for the German foreign ministry in Berlin said that "several colleagues" of the embassy had been injured, according to early reports.

Two Afghan civilians and two US soldiers are so far known to have died in the blast. Around 35 others were wounded.

Kabul - A blast believed to have been triggered by a suicide bomber wounded at least seven Afghans and four US soldiers near the German embassy in Kabul on Saturday, officials said.

The attack took place in the front the embassy, which is across from a US military base and some 200 metres from the presidential palace, officials said.

Several vehicles in front of the embassy's gate were ablaze and thick smoke was billowing from the area.

Tolo, a private TV channel showed several Afghan municipal workers soaked in their blood being rushed off the scene by a pick-up truck.

The area, which is one of the city's main intersection was cordoned off by Afghan and US military soldiers.

Kabul - A blast believed to have been triggered by a suicide bomber wounded at least seven Afghans near the German embassy in Kabul on Saturday, officials said.

The attack took place in the front the embassy building, which is across from a US military base and some 200 metres from the presidential palace, officials said.

Several vehicles in front of the embassy's gate were ablaze and thick smoke was billowing from the area.

It was immediately unknown if the attack was aimed at the German embassy personnel or any if any of the diplomats were among the victims.

Sydney - An SAS soldier who braved enemy machine-gun fire to save an Afghan interpreter shot in a Taliban ambush has become the first Australian in 40 years to win the Victoria Cross.

Mark Donaldson ran 80 metres under enemy fire to grab the interpreter and carry him to safety during a clash in Uruzgan province in September.

Nine Australian soldiers were wounded in the ambush, the highest in one incident since the Vietnam War.

In a ceremony in Canberra, Donaldson was presented with the Victoria Cross for Australia, which superseded the British or Imperial Victoria Cross in 1991.

Only three other VCs have been awarded worldwide in the past 27 years.

Kabul - An Afghan army corps commander and 12 other military personnel were killed when their helicopter crashed into a mountain due to bad weather in western Afghanistan on Thursday, an army spokesman said.

The M-17 helicopter was on its way from the western province of Herat to the neighboring province of Farah when it went down due to "bad weather," General Zahir Azimi, a defence ministry spokesman, said.

Islamabad - Pakistan on Wednesday temporarily closed a vital supply route for Western troops in landlocked Afghanistan, officials said.

Traffic on the passage running through Pakistan's restive Khyber tribal district was halted by security forces in the early morning as they continued a sweep to clear the area of Taliban militants launching regular attacks on trucks carrying NATO supplies.

"Hundreds of security personnel are taking part in the operation which will be hopefully completed in the next 48 hours," said Amirzada Khan, a government official in Khyber.