Germany To Sign Deal With Afghanistan On Post-2014 Troop Presence

Berlin, May 8, IRNA - Germany is to sign a security accord with Afghanistan geared at ensuring its troop presence in the war-stricken country even beyond the 2014 date set by Berlin to transfer security responsibility to Afghan forces, the weekly Der Spiegel said Monday. The new military agreement will be signed during the upcoming Berlin visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the comming days ahead of the May 20-21 NATO summit in Chicago. Diplomats from both countries are reportedly involved in talks aimed at finalizing the long-term security deal. As part of the accord, Berlin would be actively engaged in rebuilding Afghan security forces for about 10 years. It is still unclear how many German military instructors would be deployed in Afghanistan following NATO's troop withdrawal in late 2014. Furthermore, Germany is also to retain an unspecified number of troops in Afghanistan after 2014. According to Der Spiegel, it is estimated that around 1,000 German soldiers would be stationed in Afghanistan following the NATO pullout. Meanwhile, Germany is also to foot part of the bill for training Afghan security forces, believed to be around 150 million euros per year until 2024. Berlin has based around 5,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Dozens of German soldiers have reportedly been killed and hundreds more injured in Afghanistan since the start of the western war in that country in late 2001. Most Germans remain deeply opposed to the controversial Afghan military mission. A broad majority of Germans are skeptical on prospects for a military success in Afghanistan, according to numerous surveys. Some 70 percent of Germans don't believe that the controversial NATO military operation would be successful./end