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German elite military force eyes recruitment of women

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Berlin, May 20, IRNA
Germany-Military-Women
Germany's top-secret elite KSK military force has expressed readiness to recruit women, the daily Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition.

The German Defense Ministry and the chief inspector of the army, Hans-Otto Budde have reportedly finalized plans for hiring female KSK troopers.

According to Budde, the KSK needs women soldiers during military missions abroad.

The female KSK troopers will initially be based in three logistics units and will not be deployed at the forefront of battle operations.

Founded in 1996, the KSK has consistently faced a shortage of soldiers and has yet to reach its normal troop size of 400 combatants, in addition to a 600-man logistics force.

The KSK structure is similar to Britain's Special Air Service (SAS)and the US Special Operations Forces (US SOF).

Around 100 KSK troops were stationed in Afghanistan as part of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) from December 2001 until October 2003.

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