German military in largest Afghan offensive to date (Roundup)

Jul 22, 2009, 13:24 GMT

   Berlin - Defence officials in Berlin confirmed Wednesday that Germany's military was fighting in its largest offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan to date, in response to increased Taliban attacks in the north of the country.

Officials said that the deployment involved some 300 members of the Bundeswehr's Quick Reaction Force, using mortar munitions, Marder tanks and close air support.

Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said, 'We are now being particularly challenged in Kunduz.'

The offensive is the first occasion that the Bundeswehr, which has much stricter rules of engagement than other NATO-led forces in the country, has deployed mortar grenades and tanks.

However Jung attempted to quell a growing debate in Germany about whether or not its Afghan mission could be called a 'war.'

'We are conducting a stabilization deployment, and not a war. This discussion should be ended,' he said.

Germany has around 3,700 soldiers in Afghanistan, serving with a 65,000-strong NATO-led force deployed to the country from 42 nations. Three German soldiers were killed in a firefight with Taliban in June, bringing to 35 the number killed since initial deployment in 2002.

   The aim of the current offensive is to stabilize the region before the Afghan presidential election due to be held at the end of August, Jung said.

The offensive comes in a period when the US, as the largest part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is intensifying its fight against the Taliban in the much more violent south and centre of Afghanistan.

The Bundeswehr-led operation was thought to be likely to last another week, and to attempt to secure a region of 30 kilometres around the provincial capital of Kunduz.

   Germany's most senior military officer General Wolfgang Schneiderhan said at the press conference Wednesday, 'Now is the time to deal with the escalation.'

   Schneiderhan confirmed that the Bundeswehr soldiers were engaged in the offensive in cooperation with 800 members of the Afghan security forces, and around 100 police.

According to Bundeswehr reports, the Taliban in the northern Kunduz region were being controlled and financed from Pakistan, where military action against Taliban is also ongoing.

Schneiderhan added that the Taliban in the Kunduz region were now engaging in much more direct confrontations with German troops than had previously been the case.

On Monday the defence ministry in Berlin said that so-called close-air support from the Luftwaffe, the German air force, was being deployed in Afghanistan.

The use of such tactics raises the likelihood of civilian casualties, an issue causing growing political discomfort in Germany. On Sunday German soldiers killed two civilians when they failed to stop at a roadblock near Kunduz.

   On Wednesday the defence spokesman for the opposition Greens warned of a 'cycle of violence.' Winfried Nachtwei said that 'one has to be careful that this doesn't become an escalation without end.'

   Recent opinion polls in Germany have suggested that a narrow majority of the population is in favour of ending the military's deployment in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, former Defence Minister Peter Struck criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for not doing enough to convince a skeptical German public to support the Afghan mission.