By IRNA,
Berlin : German soldiers should be pulled out of Afghanistan not later than 2014, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told Wednesday’s edition of the Duesseldorf-based daily Rheinischen Post.
‘The last German combat troops should leave the country in 2014, if the (security) handover succeeds,’ he said.
After that date, Germany would still have a role in the civilian reconstruction process of that country or training Afghan security forces, according to Westerwelle.
Berlin hopes to begin lowering its troop size in Afghanistan in 2012 amid mounting popular opposition among Germans against the Afghan war.
A security transfer from NATO to Afghan forces is expected to start early next year and run through the end of 2014 under a plan approved by the recent NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
German soldiers serve in northern Afghanistan as part of a parliamentary mandate that allows a maximum contingent of 5,350 soldiers.
Around 4,900 German troops are presently deployed in the war-stricken
country.