German Troops Requested in Afghan South
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NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday he was counting on Germany to operate in any volatile part of Afghanistan in case of need, not just in the more peaceful northern sector.Comment
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Foreign and Afghan forces have launched their biggest major operation against the Taliban and drug lords in the country's south, where guerrillas overran a key town a month ago, NATO said on Tuesday.
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"We must take into account that there will be more violent assaults once winter is over with the additional goal of killing civilians via suicide attacks"  By Markus WacketBERLIN  - Germany rejected on Friday a call from the United States to send combat soldiers to dangerous parts of southern Afghanistan and said there were no plans to change its deployment in the less violent north.Following a strongly worded letter from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said he did not envisage a change to the mandate allowing Germany to send 3,500 troops to northern Afghanistan."We have agreed on a clear division of labor," Jung told reporters on Friday. "I think that we really must keep our focus on the North." Read more
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British troops in southern Afghanistan have clashed with Taliban fighters for the first time since deploying to the restive region earlier this year, a newspaper reported.
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Europe should deploy more troops to the dangerous southern regions of Afghanistan, Australia's foreign minister said Friday as the country mourned its second soldier killed there in three weeks.
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Germany fears further attacks on its troops in northern Afghanistan like the one that killed three of its soldiers on May 19, according to a foreign office report seen by a German newspaper.
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SEVILLA, Spain -- The new American commander of NATO presented a new list of military requirements for Afghanistan yesterday that included a request for more combat troops for the country's restive southern provinces.
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BERLIN, Jul 12 (IPS) - Doubts are being raised about German military  engagement in the so-called Operation Enduring Freedom in  Afghanistan ahead of a crucial vote in parliament due October.
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Germany believes its troops should remain in Afghanistan until the country can take care of its own security needs, according to an internal government document obtained by AFP.
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NATO's top commander renewed an appeal Friday for allies to urgently provide up to 2,500 troops for the battle with Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, but officials said it likely would take two weeks before governments reply.
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Germany will not bow to terrorist threats demanding the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday.
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Britain is to send an as yet unspecified number of extra troops to southern Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a statement Friday, blaming NATO allies for failing to help bolster the force.
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German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Sunday that his country would expand the scope of assistance to Afghanistan. After his meeting here with Afghan President Hamid Karzai
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Islamabad, Pakistan, March 6 -- NATO and Afghan forces launched what commanders described as a major operation in a key province of southern Afghanistan Tuesday morning, part of a bid to win back territory that has become a haven for insurgents.
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Countries with troops in southern Afghanistan will discuss on Friday how to tackle rising violence by Taliban insurgents and mounting U.S. calls for bigger contributions to NATO's Afghan mission.
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NATO-led troops launched an offensive against Taliban militants Tuesday in a volatile southern Afghan province where hundreds of militant fighters have amassed.
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Top British generals are asking the government for more planes and helicopters to be sent to help Britain&#039;s troops in restive Afghanistan, a newspaper reported.