Only 27 percent of Germans back Afghan military mission: survey
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Apr 17, IRNA -- Only 27 percent of Germans support the military mission in Afghanistan in the wake of rising German military deaths in the war-stricken country, according to an opinion poll published by the daily Welt on Saturday.
Some 73 percent of those questioned called for the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan.
More than 14,400 people took part in the survey.
Meanwhile, the German government reaffirmed its commitment to the strategy in Afghanistan despite the mounting military death toll in that country.
Chancellery spokesman Christoph Steegmans was quoted as saying on Friday that the strategy was "still being viewed as making sense."
Steegmans stressed there was no need for changing Berlin's military mandate in Afghanistan, even after seven German soldiers and many more were wounded in two separate Taliban attacks in northern Afghanistan this month, bringing the total number of killed German troops to 43 since late 2001.
The surge in the number of German military deaths in Afghanistan has also triggered renewed calls for a swift pullout from the war-ravaged country.
OT**1412
End News / IRNA / News Code 1060892
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