By IRNA
Berlin : A senior German legislator of the co-ruling Social Democratic Party broke ranks with the country’s leadership by supporting US and NATO calls for the deployment of German combat troops throughout Afghanistan, the daily Bild newspaper reported Monday.
Hans-Ulrich Klose said, “Germany should take over the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and should strengthen it enough to be able to be used in all of Afghanistan in case of an emergency, including the south. There could be situations in which fighting is inevitable.” The chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the German Parliament stressed that NATO was based upon the solidarity of its member states.
“This means: Everyone carries the same degree of risk,” Klose added.
Last week, the German government rejected US demands for stationing combat forces in south Afghanistan.
Addressing a weekly news conference in Berlin, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm stressed that a change of the current German International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mandate was “not being contemplated.”
Wilhelm made clear that Germany would continue with its current mandate providing for the deployment of up to 3,500 troops, mostly in the relatively peaceful north Afghan region as well as Kabul.
Berlin has faced intense pressure in recent months from its NATO allies, notably the US, Britain and Canada, to expand its military presence into southern Afghanistan where NATO forces are battling a revitalized Taliban insurgency.
Meanwhile, NATO had made last week an official request to the German Defense Ministry to send extra combat troops to Afghanistan as part of a QRF.
The German government has signalled it was ready to deploy a 250- men QRF to Afghanistan to replace a Norwegian unit in July.
The QRF is mandated within the rules the NATO-led ISAF engagement, according to the German Defense Ministry.
At least 26 German soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since January 2002, according to German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung.
Around 3,500 German soldiers are presently based in northern Afghanistan and in and around Kabul as part of the ISAF mission.