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German troops in northern Afghanistan have killed five Afghan soldiers, Nato has said. The troops were in two civilian cars which did not heed warnings to stop as they drove up to German troops in Kunduz province, a Nato statement said. The Nato forces are said to have been en route at the time to the scene of a clash with Taliban insurgents that left three German soldiers dead. Germany has the third-largest foreign contingent in Afghanistan. Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said in a statement it regretted the loss of life in Friday evening's friendly fire incident. The...

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that German troops would stay in Afghanistan until their goals were achieved, dismissing the possibility of setting a timeline for withdrawal. In an interview with ZDF television being aired Sunday night, provided in advance to the AP, Merkel said she could not commit to bringing the troops home in a specific timeframe. She said she wanted them home “as soon as possible” but not until the mission was complete. “We have a goal, and that is self-sustaining security for Afghanistan,” she said. She would not speculate on when that goal might be reached....

Several hundred Bundeswehr soldiers, backed by heavy “Marder” tanks and fighter jets, are currently helping about 1,200 Afghan National Army forces conduct major anti-terrorist operations near the Taliban stronghold of Chahar Dara, southwest of the city of Kunduz, where the bulk of Germany’s roughly 4,000 troops are stationed. The fighting--which started on Sunday and involves looking for Taliban / Al Qaeda fighters “village by village and house by house”--is expected to go on until at least next week. The Bundeswehr soldiers are part of the German-led NATO Quick Reaction Force (QRF), which provides force protection and serves as emergency back-up...

They have a beer ration of up to a litre a day, and wurst for dinner. Taleban or no Taleban, Germans take a little bit of home with them when they serve in trouble spots. Even their carefully sorted rubbish gets dumped in wheelie bins before being sent from Afghanistan to Germany for recycling. Now Germany’s most senior officer has berated his troops for going soft. “We cannot guarantee soldiers that they will have an all-round feel-good experience,” said General Wolfgang Schneiderhan. His outburst follows complaints made by German soldiers to the official ombudsman about their tours abroad. Some have...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Al Qaeda issued an Internet threat against German soldiers at the weekend, which the government in Berlin said showed the risk of a Islamist attack on German soil had increased.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A German military helicopter chased away pirates on Thursday who were trying to board an Egyptian ship off the coast of Somalia. One of the ship's crew was shot in the attack. The bulk carrier with 31 crew was passing through the Gulf of Aden on its way to Asia when gun-toting pirates in a speedboat began pursuing it, said Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center. A passing ship alerted the Kuala Lumpur-based bureau, which asked a multinational naval coalition force in the area to help, said Choong.

A report by Germany's Parliament found forces in Afghanistan got through more than 1.7 million pints of beer and 92,000 bottles of wine last year. They are already on track to top those figures this year, with 901,000 pints of beer and 56,000 bottles of wine being shipped in the first six months. US forces are not allowed to drink, while British soldiers are allowed only small quantities while off-duty. Earlier this year, another report found that 40 per cent Germany's 3,600 soldiers in Afghanistan were overweight. This has prompted Reinhold Robbe, Parliamentary Commissioner for the armed forces, to observe:...

Almost 70,000 litres of wine and seat, a German sparkling wine, was also shipped to the soldiers, the defence ministry figures showed. The figures imply that the 3,600 German troops in Afghanistan as part of Nato's ISA operation are each drinking around 490 pints or beer as well as 128 normal measures of wine. The revelations have provided ammunition to critics of Germany's role in the Afghan mission. Some claim that German troops spend too much time in the relatively safe areas in the north of the country. British soldiers are only allowed to drink moderate amounts of alcohol while...

Germany's parliament has voted to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan and to deploy an extra 1,000 troops there. The decision will keep German troops in Afghanistan until December 2009, boosting their number to 4,500. Germany is the third-biggest contributor to the 47,000-strong Nato-led force. The plan put forward by Chancellor Angela Merkel was overwhelmingly approved by members of the lower house. The motion was backed by 442 MPs, while 96 voted against it and there were 32 abstentions. The move already has the support of the upper chamber of parliament. "This decision contributes to the stabilisation and peaceful...

German special forces had an important Taliban commander in their sights in Afghanistan. But he escaped -- because the Germans were not authorized to use lethal force. The German government's hands-tied approach to the war is causing friction with its NATO allies. The wheat is lush and green in the fields of northern Afghanistan this spring. A river winding its way through the broad valley dotted with walled houses completes the picturesque scene. Behind one of these walls, not far from the town of Pol-e-Khomri, sits a man whose enemies, having named him a "target," would like to see dead....

Germany’s refusal to send their Afghanistan-based troops into the volatile Southern provinces is symptom of much larger issues. By standing on the sidelines, the Germans join so-called NATO members Italy, Turkey, and that fierce-fighting nation France in supporting the War on Terror in words and little action...

Germany failing to fight Taliban, US claims By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor, and Harry de Quetteville in Vienna Last Updated: 12:43am GMT 02/02/2008 Nato has faced one of its greatest tests since the Cold War after America accused Germany of failing to fight the Taliban and urged Berlin to send more combat troops to Afghanistan. Frontline: The latest news from Iraq and Afghanistan Nato troop numbers in Afghanistan Behind this disagreement between the two allies, disclosed in a "stern" exchange of letters between their defence ministers, lies a crucial dispute over "burden sharing" which threatens the credibility of the alliance....

BERLIN - German troops are staying in the calmer northern regions of Afghanistan, the defence minister said Friday, despite pleas from Canada and the United States for more military muscle to help fight insurgents in the south. "I have a clear mandate from the German parliament," German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters Friday. "It consists of 3,500 soldiers serving along the northern border and only helping out in the south for a limited period of time, as needed." Jung made the remarks in response to a letter from U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates seeking more substantial help in...

via translation - Unannounced visit to the German Chancellor in Afghanistan KABUL - The German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Saturday morning in Kabul for a surprise visit to Afghanistan, announced a European diplomatic source in the AFP. The information was confirmed by a spokesman for the German embassy in Kabul, which did not provide details about the visit. Merkel was to have talks with President Hamid Karzai, followed by a press conference around midday, and probably visit some 3,000 German soldiers stationed mostly in northeastern Afghanistan. It came after the Bundestag had overwhelmingly approved on October 12 the extension of...

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed three German soldiers and four civilians on Saturday in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz, Afghan security officials said. To the south, militants in Kapisa province engaged Afghan and foreign forces overnight in a battle in which several dozen Taliban fighters were believed to have been killed, the U.S.-led coalition said. And in the Shinwar district near Jalalabad, a remote-controlled bomb killed a police chief and another officer and wounded three others on Saturday, a local official said. Insurgents have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan in recent weeks following the traditional winter...

4 September 2006 BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has underlined there can be "no military option" for dealing with Iran's nuclear programme, a spokesman said Monday. "The door for negotiations remains open," said chief German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm. Wilhelm added: "The chancellor has expressed the view that there is no military option." US President George W. Bush has repeatedly said he does not rule out any option for dealing with Iran's nuclear programme, which is widely believed to be aimed at building nuclear weapons. Iran rejects this and says its uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes. Tehran refused...

BERLIN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is "no military option" for handling Iran's nuclear program, her spokesman told reporters here on Monday. "The chancellor has expressed the view that there is no military option," Ulrich Wilhelm said, adding that "the door for negotiations remains open." The U.S. leaders have said repeatedly any option would not be ruled out in dealing with Iran's nuclear program as they insist that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. But Iran has said its program is for peaceful purpose, refusing to comply with a UN directive that it cease uranium enrichment...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that Germany would not send combat troops as part of the contemplated international peacekeeping force in Lebanon, but may offer naval forces to help patrol the country's coastline. Merkel said Germany was looking at "naval security" as part of its effort to support the force, after meeting with parliamentary leaders. Parliament must approve any deployment, and the German government has warned it can't make a concrete offer until rules of engagement are clarified.

Bush und Annan erörtern Möglichkeiten für Libanon-Resolution / Olmert erneuert Bitte US-Präsident Bush und UNO-Generalsekretär Annan haben die Lage im Nahen Osten erörtert. In dem Telefonat sei auch über diplomatische Bemühungen zur Beilegung der Krise zwischen Israel und der Hisbollah-Miliz im Libanion gesprochen worden, teilte ein Regierungsvertreter in Washington mit. Details nannte er nicht. - In einer Erklärung der UNO hatte es zuvor geheißen, Annan sei verärgert über die Langsamkeit der Verhandlungen über eine gemeinsame Entschließung im Sicherheitsrat zu dem Konflikt. Israels Ministerpräsident Olmert bekräftigte in der Zeitung 'Welt am Sonntag', er wolle Deutschland notfalls ausdrücklich bitten, an einer UNO-Friedenstruppe...

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would welcome the participation of German soldiers in a stabilization force in South Lebanon, he said in an interview with a German newspaper published on Friday. "I have informed (German) Chancellor Angela Merkel that we have absolutely no problem having German troops in South Lebanon," Olmert told the daily Suddeutsche Zeitung.