Berlin, June 1 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers have been temporarily suspended after the deadly Kabul car bombing, which killed at least 80 people and injured hundreds of others.
The decision came amid growing calls by politicians of the Social Democratic (SPD) and Green parties as well as human rights organizations, demanding a complete stop to deportations to Afghanistan.
Citing the devastating suicide bombing in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday morning, Green party politician Omid Nouripour said it was "cynical" that the German federal government still considered Afghanistan a safe country of origin allowing the forced repatriation of citizens whose applications for asylum have failed.
The concerns were echoed by the mayor of Bremen Carsten Sieling (SPD) who challenged the federal government to reconsider its assessment of the war-torn Central Asian country's security situation.
A crowd of 300 clashed with police on Wednesday as it attempted to prevent the deportation of a 20-year-old Afghan in the Southern German town of Nuernberg. Five people were arrested and several police officers injured.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizere (CDU) temporarily postponed a deportation flight on Wednesday. Rather than reflecting a general change in policy, however, he linked the decision to the logistical preoccupation of German embassy officials in Afghanistan with other issues in the aftermath of the attack.
The explosion during Kabul's morning rush hour on Wednesday occurred in the immediate proximity of the German embassy, causing severe damage to the building.
It remains unclear whether the German embassy was the target of the attack.
The Taliban has denied responsibility for the bombing which was carried out with a truck loaded with explosives.
According to German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, all German embassy staff survived the bombing, although injuries were reported. But an Afghani security guard employed by the embassy was killed in the blast.
With at least 80 killed and over 350 injured, the suicide attack is the worst incident of terrorism since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, underlining the trend of deteriorating security conditions in the country since the U.S. began reducing its military presence under former president Obama.
Nevertheless, according to a report of the local newspaper "Neue Passer Presse" on April 24, the number of Afghani refugees granted asylum in Germany has fallen dramatically.
Official figures indicate that the acceptance rate for refugees from Afghanistan sunk from 77.6 percent in 2015 to 60.5 percent in 2016 and further down to 47.9 percent in January and February 2017.
