German defense minster says ‘no’ to withdrawal from Afghanistan

By IRNA,

Berlin : German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to calls for an early pullout from Afghanistan.


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On Monday deadly suicide attack in the north Afghan city of Kunduz killed two German soldiers and five Afghan children, media reports said Tuesday.

Talking to journalists in Berlin, Jung labeled demands for an early withdrawal from Afghanistan “a severe mistake.”
Most Germans reject the NATO-led military mission in the war- stricken country.

Germany has also been the scene of mass protests against the Afghanistan war in recent weeks.

Some 30 German soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since January 2002, according to official statistics.

Last week, the German Parliament gave green light to the 14-month extension of the military mission in Afghanistan following a heated debate.

The lawmakers agreed also to increase the number of German ISAF soldiers from 3,500 to 4,500 soldiers.

The overall cost for extending the German mission is expected to hover around 688 million euros.

Germany is the third largest troop provider in the 53,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) after the US and Britain.

Berlin has deployed around 3,500 soldiers in northern Afghanistan and Kabul as part of ISAF in addition to police instructors and civilian reconstruction workers.

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