GERMANY: Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says German forces involved in war and are not making sacrifices for nothing

Record ID: 1519473

  • Title: GERMANY: Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says German forces involved in war and are not making sacrifices for nothing
  • Date: 5th April 2010
  • Summary: WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE GENERAL INSPECTOR OF THE GERMAN MILITARY (BUNDESWEHR) VOLKER WIEKER, SAYING: "The incident will be investigated per routine through ISAF and the Afghan Ministry of Defence as well as our own forces. It goes without saying that we support this investigation to reach an explanation for what happened, only this way, that is the only way we can avoid the reservations of the people of Afghanistan." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2010 09:06
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVADJVLVGI4QAR1Y1SMA4RXALPHR
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: German Defence Minister offers his condolences after Afghan soldiers have been killed in a German army shooting.
    German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, said on Sunday (April 4) the situation in parts of Afghanistan could "colloquially speaking" be called a war.
    Guttenberg's comments followed two incidents in the northern part of Kunduz province that led to the deaths of three German soldiers killed in a gunfight with insurgents and the death of six Afghan soldiers accidentally killed by the German troops in a friendly fire.
    The defence minister who cut short his Easter break to visit the injured soldiers from the attack offered his condolences to the families of the fallen Afghan soldiers.
    German troops based in north Afghanistan mistakenly killed six Afghan soldiers on Saturday (April 3), hours after the Germans lost the three soldiers.
    A statement from NATO said that on Friday (April 2) evening a unit of German soldiers was approached by two unmarked civilian vehicles which failed to stop when troops signalled them "using a variety of methods" in the northern province of Kunduz.
    "The force eventually fired on the vehicles killing at least five Afghan soldiers ... Initial reports indicate that the two civilian cars were part of an Afghan national army patrol en route to Kunduz," NATO-led forces said in a statement.
    At a news conference in Defence Ministry Headquarters in Bonn the minister later referred to a war-like situation in the region.
    "We can say that in light of what is happening in parts of Afghanistan that one can - colloquially speaking and I repeat , colloquially speaking - talk of there being a war in Afghanistan."
    Guttenberg's comments come against an ongoing debate in Germany as to the role of German military forces in Afghanistan. Officially German troops are in Afghanistan as part of an aid and development effort. Guttenberg's predecessor repeatedly refused to refer to the situation in Afghanistan as war despite increasing attacks and gun battles between German troops and insurgents.
    The mission in Afghanistan is extremely unpopular in Germany but Guttenberg rejected calls for a withdrawal of German troops from the country.
    "Our soldiers are not there for nothing. And our soldiers do not fall or get wounded for nothing. They are engaged for the safety of a region that is destabilised and through its destabilisation could have immediate consequences on large parts of the world and we are not just talking about Afghanistan but about the fact that an Afghanistan that is imploding and is left to its own devices could end up spilling into its nuclear armed neighbours. Into neighbouring Iran, into Central Asia and this alone justifies an engagement that has realistic goals", he said.
    Guttenberg and General Inspector Volker Wieker announced there would be a thorough investigation into the friendly fire clash. The German prosecutor general as well as NATO'S ISAF and the Afghan Defence Ministry have all launched investigations.
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