BERLIN, March 26 (Reuters) - German troops in Afghanistan, who so far have been largely spared the deadly attacks which are becoming commonplace in the southern regions, will be targeted by the Taliban, one of its top leaders said in an interview.

Up to 3,000 German personnel, deployed in the Afghan capital Kabul and the relatively quiet northern region, will be attacked along with other foreign troops, senior Taliban leader Mullah Obaidullah Akhund told a German magazine.

He said more than "6,000 young warriors will sacrifice themselves for Allah in the struggle."

Obaidullah, a member of Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar's inner circle, said no Western troops would remain untroubled.

"Not the Germans, not the British, not the Canadians and certainly not the Americans. We will kill them all," the magazine Cicero quoted Obaidullah as saying.

There are nearly 40 nationalities represented within the 32,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operating in Afghanistan.

The senior Taliban leader was a defence minister in the Taliban government that ran Afghanistan until it was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Western media widely picked up Pakistani media reports that Obaidullah had been detained by Pakistani police at the beginning of March, but the reports proved to be inaccurate, the Cicero report said.

Scepticism is increasing in Germany about its role in Afghanistan, where 18 German troops have perished. Der Spiegel magazine recently published a poll showing that 57 percent of Germans favour a rapid withdrawal of troops.

Doubts have been aggravated after a German woman and her son were taken hostage in Iraq by a group who threatened to kill them if Berlin did not withdraw its 3,000 troops from Afghanistan. The deadline expired last week.

The killing of a German aid worker in Afghanistan earlier this month has also fuelled concerns.

German lawmakers recently approved sending six Tornado reconnaissance jets to Afghanistan, meeting a NATO request to help boost intelligence-gathering ahead of an expected spring offensive by Taliban insurgents.

NATO allies have also urged Germany to redeploy troops from the relatively quiet north to the less secure southern regions, where most attacks are taking place. But Berlin has refused.

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