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80% of Germans against troop surge in Afghanistan

A recent survey by the Independent Polling Institute Forsa indicates that four out of five Germans disagree with Berlin having a stronger military role in Afghanistan.

Forsa indicated even among supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Union, 77 percent said they objected to adding soldiers to the 4,300-strong force currently in the war-ravaged country.

The survey says 32 percent of Germans are calling for an immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Despite these reports, Merkel pledged on Tuesday to send another 500 troops to Afghanistan.

“So that rebuilding can take place, and so that the training of security forces can occur, it is necessary that the (Afghan) population is protected from the Taliban,” the chancellor argued.

“Without peace there is no reconstruction, but without reconstruction there will be no peace either,” Merkel was quoted by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle as saying.

She noted that German army personnel would also focus on accelerating the training of Afghan security forces.

However, a 2009 fatal German-ordered airstrike in the province of Konduz sparked a debate over whether training was the sole purpose of the country’s presence.

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