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Missile attack on German base in Kunduz after Merkel's visit

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Berlin, April 6, IRNA -- A German army camp in northern Afghanistan came under a missile attack only moments after a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday, deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg told the press in Berlin.

Two rockets were launched at the base in Kunduz 20 minutes after the chancellor departed, the German official said.

The missiles landed outside the camp compound and caused no casualties or material damage, a German Defense Ministry spokesperson added.

The Kunduz camp has been repeatedly targeted by Taliban attacks in recent times.

Merkel embarked on a unexpected trip to Afghanistan to meet with German soldiers and tour reconstruction projects.

The chancellor's two-day visit to the war-stricken country which was kept top-secret until her arrival in Afghanistan, came in the wake of NATO's latest decision to devise a new strategic concept for Afghanistan.

Unlike Merkel's visit to Afghanistan two years, she has no plans to travel to Kabul and meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Only one-third of Germans back the military the military operation in Afghanistan, according to a survey released last week by the ARD broadcasting network.

Some 32 percent of those questioned say German troops should remain in Afghanistan, down 10 percent from the same corresponding time in February 2008.

Around 64 percent believe that German soldiers, deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), should be pulled out of the war-stricken country as soon as possible.

This is the lowest rate of approval for the German military mission in Afghanistan, conducted by the ARD television station.

Germany has been the scene of nationwide mass protests against the war in Afghanistan over the past years.

More than 3,500 German troops are presently deployed in northern Afghanistan and Kabul.

Berlin has faced intense pressure by the US, Britain and Canada to dispatch more soldiers to Afghanistan, especially to the southern part of the country where NATO-led forces have been confronted with a fierce Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency.

NATO has presently based around 55,000 troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

ISAF is by far NATO's largest mission, and is viewed as crucial to the security and long-term credibility of the western military pact.

The disputed ISAF mission was mandated by the United Nations in December 2001, in the wake of the overthrow of the Taliban.

The largest troop contingents come from the US with 23,220 followed by Britain with 8,910 and Germany with 3,500.

American President Barack Obama has announced that he will boost the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan by around 17,000.

However, he has also urged European allies to make a similar commitment.