By IRNA
Berlin : Canada has stepped up its pressure on Germany to shift its soldiers from the relatively peaceful north Afghan region to the war-stricken southern part of Afghanistan where NATO-led forces face a revitalized Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency.
Talking to the online edition of the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine on Wednesday, Canada Defense Minister Peter MacKay warned of a “two-tiered NATO” since not all member states of the western military alliance were sharing the burden evenly.
He also alluded that Berlin was not meeting its international commitments within NATO’s framework.
“I understand there are domestic challenges in Germany when it comes to troop deployment. Yet, there are also international responsibilities that we all share. Canada takes its role seriously, and we have had more than 80 casualties in Afghanistan,” MacKay said.
Asked whether he wanted more German troops in southern Afghanistan, the minister replied, “Absolutely. We want more French, Spanish, Italian troops in the south, too.”
“Just look at what countries are there or were there: The Romanians, the Estonians and the Danes. These are countries that arguably have less military capacity than Germany,” MacKay added.
The minister stressed that Germany would also benefit from “a stable Afghanistan that is no longer the exporter of terrorism.” Germany has based around 3,500 soldiers in northern Afghanistan and Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in addition to police instructors and civilian reconstruction workers.
Some 26 German soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since January 2002, according to official statistics.