The German government has turned down Friday the request of U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members to deploy more troops to Afghanistan.Gates asked Germany to contribute 300 troops to the 3,200-stong additional contingent in order to back the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
The German government will not amend the bill passed by the Bundestag (the lower house of parliament) on participation in the NATO operations, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told reporters here. For his part, German Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung pledged to continue talks under the ISAF mandate but without sending any additional troops to the Central Asian country.
Germany has 3,600-strong contingent stationed at the relatively calm northern provinces of Afghanistan.
| Anyone know if the German contingent is actually needed in the north? Are there problems up there, or is the German contingent just a show of cheap confidence? |
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