Germany edition

Afghanistan

The following articles have been tagged with "Afghanistan":

De Maizière urges more military might in Europe

National: 4 Feb 12
German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière said Europe should not fear a renewed US focus on Asia and must increasingly look after its own backyard militarily, in remarks made during the 48th annual Munich Security Conference. READ »

Investigations of soldiers deployed abroad surge

National: 30 Jan 12
The German military is trying to determine why the number of criminal investigations of soldiers on foreign deployments is rising – the number of cases last year surged to the same amount as the years 2002 and 2006 combined. READ »

Asylum applications jump to eight-year high

National: 24 Jan 12
The number of people seeking asylum in Germany has jumped to its highest point in eight years, although it is still well below early-90s levels, a newspaper report said Tuesday. READ »

German 'spies' detained in Pakistan

National: 23 Jan 12
Three alleged German spies have been detained in Pakistan by police and released to German diplomats, according to media reports. READ »

Al Qaida 'planned to take German hostages'

National: 22 Jan 12
Documents seized in May linked to al Qaida leaders indicate that the terrorist organisation was aiming to take hostages in Germany and other Western countries as part of a "war of attrition," according to a newspaper report. READ »

Thousands of US soldiers to leave Germany

National: 13 Jan 12
The US military will withdraw thousands of soldiers from Germany as the American military takes half of its troops out of Europe as part of a forces redeployment to focus more on the Middle East and Asia. READ »

Jihadist killer deserves life say prosecutors

National: 9 Jan 12
A man who shot dead two American soldiers in Germany last March should go to jail for life, prosecutors demanded on Monday as a court heard closing arguments in his trial READ »

'Anonymous' declares 'Blitzkrieg' on neo-Nazis

Society: 2 Jan 12
“Anonymous” hackers have declared “Blitzkrieg” on neo-Nazis for the New Year, disabling a number of their websites and publishing lists of extreme-right supporters. READ »

Germany funds Afghan TV cop show

National: 21 Dec 11
The German government is bankrolling a new TV cop show in Afghanistan in the hope of helping improve the image of the country's much-maligned police force. READ »

Siemens hires sacked US general McChrystal

National: 20 Dec 11
German industrial giant Siemens has hired the American general fired for criticising US President Barack Obama in public – to head up its attempt to get more US government contracts. READ »

Afghanistan troop withdrawl to begin in Jan

National: 17 Dec 11
The withdrawl of German troops from Afghanistan will not take place before Christmas and won’t be accompanied by a celebration, according to German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière. READ »

Berlin hails 'turning point' in Afghan war

National: 15 Dec 11
During a Bundestag debate on the German army’s future mission in Afghanistan Thursday, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said a planned draw-down of troops heralded a “turning point” in the ten-year NATO-led war in Afghanistan. READ »

Afghan war criminal loose in Munich

National: 11 Dec 11
A former general in the Afghan secret service, allegedly responsible for 30,000 murders, has been living in Munich disguised as a newspaper seller for several years. Police are now investigating. READ »

Afghan conference starts in Bonn without Pakistan

National: 5 Dec 11
The Bonn conference on Afghanistan to seek a way forward after the withdrawal of NATO combat troops in 2014 brought around 100 national delegations and aid organisations together on Monday. READ »

Karzai slams Pakistan for boycotting Bonn talks

National: 4 Dec 11
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of undermining negotiations with the ban by boycotting an international conference on Afghanistan starting Monday in Bonn. READ »

Merkel 'sorry' Pakistan to boycott Afghan meeting

Politics: 29 Nov 11
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she was "very sorry" about Pakistan's announced boycott of a Bonn conference next week on the future of Afghanistan and would try to convince it to attend. READ »

Germany backs peace talks with the Taliban

National: 27 Nov 11
Germany's foreign and defence ministers called Sunday for the Taliban to be included in Afghanistan peace talks, ahead of a major international conference for the war-ravaged country next month. READ »

Westerwelle prepares for Afghan conference

Politics: 19 Nov 11
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Kabul on Saturday for talks with President Hamid Karzai before a key international conference in Bonn on Afghanistan's future. READ »

Afghanistan to see German troop drawdown

National: 11 Nov 11
The German government plans to reduce the number of Bundeswehr soldiers deployed in Afghanistan by 1,000 in the coming year, according to a letter sent to Bundestag parliamentarians by the Foreign and Defence ministries. READ »

NATO leader praises German role in Libya

Politics: 2 Nov 11
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has praised Germany’s role in the transatlantic alliance’s military operation in Libya, even though the German government refused to support it at the United Nations. READ »

Germany offers help finding Libyan weapons

National: 1 Nov 11
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has offered to help Libya follow a United Nations resolution ratified on Monday that obliges the country’s new government to control and destroy small arms and chemical weapons. READ »

Pakistan spied on Germans in Afghanistan

National: 31 Oct 11
Pakistan’s intelligence agency reportedly spied on German police officers working in Afghanistan, raising questions whether Pakistan is passing information on to the insurgent Taliban about security forces’ operations. READ »

Soldier gets probation for deadly gun accident

National: 26 Oct 11
A former Bundeswehr soldier who accidentally shot and killed a comrade has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and disobeying orders and sentenced to two years probation. READ »

Wulff makes surprise trip to Afghanistan

National: 16 Oct 11
German President Christian Wulff vowed Sunday that Germany would continue to support Afghanistan after the troops have left, as he made a surprise trip to Kabul for talks with President Hamid Karzai. READ »

German cooking leaves more than 200 soldiers sick in Afghanistan

National: 14 Oct 11
More than 200 soldiers in Afghanistan have fallen ill after eating at a German canteen in Mazar-e-Sharif. READ »

Officials urge calm as more firebombs found

National: 13 Oct 11
As further makeshift incendiary devices were found on Berlin’s rail network on Thursday, German officials disagreed on whether they represented a new dimension of violence by leftist extremists. READ »

Dresden's Military History Museum gets Libeskind revamp

Society: 13 Oct 11
The Military History Museum in Dresden reopens this week after being completely revamped by star US architect Daniel Libeskind. Erin Huggins assesses the exhibition after the building’s stark transformation. READ »

More incendiary devices found in Berlin

National: 12 Oct 11
Berlin police discovered more incendiary devices on the German capital’s rail network on Wednesday, including one that had apparently exploded earlier. The remains of the device were found in Staaken station in the west of the city. READ »

German military unveils super drone

Science & Technology: 12 Oct 11
The German military on Wednesday unveiled the new “Euro Hawk” super drone, whose size and range is set to revolutionize the Bundeswehr’s intelligence-gathering capabilities. READ »

New incendiary device found on train tracks

National: 11 Oct 11
Another incendiary device was found on train tracks in Berlin on Tuesday, in what may be the latest round in a series of arson attacks on German railways by suspected leftists extremists. READ »

Sliding towards terrorism

Analysis & Opinion: 11 Oct 11
The leftist extremists claiming responsibility for arson attacks on Germany's rail system this week said they do not want to hurt anyone, but it’s only a matter of time until they do, comments Gerd Nowakowski from Der Tagesspiegel. READ »

Leftist extremists claim rail arson attacks

National: 10 Oct 11
Train services between Berlin and Hamburg were severely disrupted on Monday after a sabotage attack on rail lines claimed by leftist extremists. Police also said they had foiled an arson attack on the German capital’s main train station. READ »

Nearly 50 US paratroopers hurt in Bavarian training exercise

National: 7 Oct 11
Nearly 50 American army paratroopers were injured – some seriously – during a mass parachute training exercise in southern Germany this week. READ »

German terrorist 'killed by drone'

National: 7 Oct 11
A German terrorist who helped found a group dedicated to attacking Germans and Americans has been killed by an US drone in Pakistan, according to media reports. READ »

Germans like globalisation, but worry about income gap

Business & Money: 4 Oct 11
A new survey shows most Germans support the process of globalisation, although they’re worried about that the gap between rich and poor people could grow. READ »

Soldier denies killing comrade in prank

National: 28 Sep 11
A German soldier who accidentally shot dead another soldier in Afghanistan testified Wednesday that the accident was caused by a jammed gun, not a prank. The 21-year-old is facing charges of manslaughter and disobeying orders. READ »

Another German tourist killed in Afghanistan

National: 26 Sep 11
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed Sunday evening that a German civilian was killed on Saturday in the west Afghan province of Ghor. READ »

Frankfurt shooter deep into jihad: prosecutors

National: 14 Sep 11
German prosecutors on Wednesday said the Kosovar man accused of killing two US airmen at Frankfurt’s Airport in March had a long fascination with Islamist propaganda, contradicting his previous statements. READ »

Berlin suspects charged with planning terror attack

National: 10 Sep 11
The two men arrested on Thursday in Berlin on suspicion of planning a terror attack have been remanded in custody by a judge. READ »

Hamburg looks back a decade after 9/11

National: 9 Sep 11
A decade after the 9/11 attacks, Hamburg remains stigmatised by perceptions it was a breeding ground for Islamist terrorists, according to the director of the city's domestic intelligence service. Hannah Cleaver reports. READ »

Police thwart terror plot

National: 8 Sep 11
Police on Thursday arrested two men in Berlin for acquiring chemicals amid suspicions they were planning a terrorist bomb attack. READ »

Foreign Ministry confirms deaths of aid workers

National: 7 Sep 11
Two German development workers who have been missing for three weeks in Afghanistan were confirmed dead by the Foreign Ministry late on Tuesday. READ »

Friedrich: 1,000 potential terrorists in Germany

National: 5 Sep 11
Around 1,000 potential Islamist terrorists live in Germany, 128 of whom could be classed as capable of carrying out attacks, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Monday. READ »

Soldier suicide rates high on missions abroad

National: 4 Sep 11
Suicide accounts for about 20 percent of German soldier deaths during foreign missions, according to a magazine report. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry would not comment on the matter. READ »

Relatives of Kunduz bomb victims to sue

National: 1 Sep 11
A lawyer representing 74 relatives of those killed in an airstrike ordered by a German colonel in Afghanistan two years ago, announced Thursday that they would be seeking damages from the German government. READ »

Report: defence cuts endangering soldiers

National: 31 Aug 11
The German parliament's defence commissioner Hellmut Königshaus has said that “severe shortages“ in Bundeswehr equipment could risk soldiers’ safety. READ »

Frankfurt man confesses to killing US airmen

National: 31 Aug 11
A 21-year-old man from Kosovo apologised in court Wednesday for killing two US soldiers at Frankfurt Airport as they headed to Afghanistan, saying he had been influenced by Islamist propaganda. READ »

Mountain climbers go missing in Afghanistan

National: 23 Aug 11
Fears are growing that two German men who went missing several days ago after setting off to climb snow-capped mountains in war-torn Afghanistan could have been kidnapped, officials said Tuesday. READ »

Media roundup: Libya after Qaddafi

Analysis & Opinion: 23 Aug 11
As the end of Libyan despot Muammar Qaddafi's reign nears, commentators in The Local’s media roundup examine what’s next for the North African country and the impact of Germany’s decision to break with its NATO allies. READ »

Taliban target German security firm in Kunduz

National: 2 Aug 11
A suicide bomber and two gunmen have attacked the office of a German security firm protecting aid workers in the Afghanistan city of Kunduz, in a co-ordinated assault that left at least six people dead. READ »

Germany sends condolences to Oslo

National: 23 Jul 11
Germany's political leaders were united in dismay and grief following the two attacks in Norway that led to over 90 deaths. President Christian Wulff sent a telegram of sympathy to his counterpart King Harald. READ »

De Maizière promises to equip soldiers better

National: 17 Jul 11
Reacting to a parliamentary report that German soldiers in Afghanistan are being endangered by a shortage of equipment, Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière promised that problems would be addressed immediately. READ »

Islamist charged for US airmen killings

National: 7 Jul 11
German federal prosecutors said Thursday they had indicted a 21-year-old Islamic extremist from Kosovo over an attack on US troops at Frankfurt Airport in March that killed two airmen. READ »

Germany’s humble strength

Analysis & Opinion: 5 Jul 11
Germany was once a strong yet evil country. Then it was weak but good. Today it's both strong and good, making the innate caution of its leaders more important than ever, argues Malte Lehming from Der Tagesspiegel. READ »

Coalition backs Guttenberg over Kunduz

Politics: 2 Jul 11
The coalition parties are backing former Defence Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg’s over his firing of a general and a civil servant after a 2009 airstrike in Afghanistan which killed up to 142 people including dozens of civilians. READ »

Tens of thousands expected at Berlin yoga fest

Society: 2 Jul 11
Tens of thousands of yoga fans are expected in Berlin this weekend for a huge festival organized in the German capital's 1930s Olympic Stadium by one of India's best-known gurus, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. READ »

Army admits shooting, driving problems

National: 23 Jun 11
The Bundeswehr is in danger of failing its mission in Afghanistan because German soldiers cannot use their weapons, drive their armoured vehicles or take care of their wounded properly, according to classified internal documents. READ »

US files charges in airport shooting

National: 22 Jun 11
US prosecutors have filed murder charges against a Kosovo Albanian man accused of shooting dead two US airmen on a bus at Frankfurt airport in Germany. It was not immediately clear if the new charges meant he might face trial in the US. READ »

Terror suspect extradited from Austria

National: 20 Jun 11
A German man arrested on suspicion of recruiting for a terror group mounting attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan was extradited from Austria Monday, federal prosecutors said. READ »

Bundeswehr convoy attacked by Taliban

National: 19 Jun 11
A Taliban suicide bomber attacked a German army convoy in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing three Afghan civilians. Two German soldiers received slight injuries. READ »

Arrested Austrian was planning 9/11-style attack on Reichstag

National: 19 Jun 11
An Austrian terror suspect arrested this week was plotting to crash a plane into the Reichstag building in Berlin, which houses the German parliament, a report said Saturday. A German with links to the suspect was also detained. READ »

Afghan intel reportedly failed to warn of attack

National: 16 Jun 11
The German army can no longer trust the Afghan intelligence services, fearing that they are deliberately withholding information about imminent attacks, according to newly leaked Defence Ministry documents. READ »

Embassy staff suspected of taking bribes

National: 11 Jun 11
Following the arrest of a German diplomat last month, prosecutors are now investigating other allegations that employees at numerous German embassies sold visas for bribes. READ »

Ex-President Köhler settles score over shock resignation

Politics: 8 Jun 11
Former German President Horst Köhler, who resigned last year after he was criticized for saying military deployments had economic motives, has slammed the “outrageous” attacks and accused politicians of exploiting the issue. READ »

Media roundup: Barack gives Angie a push

Analysis & Opinion: 8 Jun 11
Barack Obama’s enthusiastic reception of Angela Merkel in Washington wasn't just politeness. As commentators in The Local's media roundup on Wednesday agree, the US was making clear it expects more from Germany. READ »

Merkel and Obama talk debt crisis, Libya

Politics: 8 Jun 11
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned Europe's debt crisis must not destabilize the global economy, as he laid on a effusive White House welcome for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. READ »

Merkel visit prompts White House pomp

Politics: 7 Jun 11
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived at the White House Tuesday, continuing an official US visit during which differences between the transatlantic allies over Libya and global economics are being masked by American pomp. READ »

Former church leader criticizes German arms industry

National: 2 Jun 11
Margot Käßmann, former head of the German Protestant church, used her speech at an annual Christian convention on Thursday to question the morality of Germany's arms industry. President Christian Wulff was part of the audience. READ »

Another German soldier killed in Afghanistan

National: 2 Jun 11
A German soldier was killed in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, five days after two others were killed in the same region. This is the third such attack on the Bundeswehr in nine days. READ »

Germany in 2011: Economic giant, political dwarf

Analysis & Opinion: 31 May 11
Consigned to minor role at last week’s G8 summit, the economic power Germany is in danger of being sidelined politically, argues Gerd Appenzeller from Der Tagesspiegel. READ »

ISAF general describes Afghan bomb attack

Society: 30 May 11
After narrowly surviving a bomb attack, the wounded German commander of international forces in northern Afghanistan, Markus Kneip, vowed late Sunday to carry on with his job and described the moment of the blast. READ »

Petraeus to meet general hurt in Afghan attack

National: 29 May 11
Gen. David Petraeus, US commander of the international forces in Afghanistan (ISAF), is to visit German Gen. Markus Kneip after he narrowly survived a deadly attack on Saturday. READ »

Afghan police chief and German soldiers killed

National: 28 May 11
The police chief of northern Afghanistan and two German soldiers were among seven people killed in a suicide bombing at the Takhar governor's office Saturday. Germany's top general in the country was also wounded. READ »

Bundeswehr soldier killed in Afghanistan

National: 25 May 11
A Bundeswehr soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday when roadside bomb exploded near his Fuchs armoured personnel carrier, injuring a second German soldier and an Afghan translator. READ »

Germany mediating US-Taliban talks: report

Politics: 23 May 11
Germany is helping mediate secret, direct talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, with meetings taking place on German soil, according to Der Spiegel magazine. READ »

German soldiers admit to shooting Afghans

National: 20 May 11
The German military on Friday admitted its soldiers in Afghanistan deliberately shot several people during a violent protest outside their base in the northern town of Taloqan. READ »

De Maizière says Germany must pull its weight abroad militarily

National: 19 May 11
German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière Thursday said his country should be prepared to pull its weight militarily abroad, taking part in international operations even when Berlin's interests are not directly at stake. READ »

Protest leaves soldiers hurt, Afghans dead

National: 18 May 11
Two German soldiers were injured and several Afghans were killed on Wednesday after a demonstration outside a Bundeswehr camp in northern Afghanistan turned violent. READ »

Germany curbs terrorist intel flow to US

National: 15 May 11
The German government is reportedly reassessing the amount of information it is passing on to US authorities, after a German citizen was killed by a US drone attack on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border last year. READ »

Terror cell member jailed

National: 9 May 11
A 25-year-old German-Syrian dual national was sentenced to four years and nine months imprisonment by a German court Monday for belonging to an Al-Qaida-linked terror cell active in Pakistan. READ »

Germany’s civilized killjoys

Analysis & Opinion: 9 May 11
Are Germans right to criticize the joyous reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden? Der Tagesspiegel’s Moritz Schuller detects a misplaced whiff of condescension. READ »

German media roundup: The death of bin Laden

Analysis & Opinion: 3 May 11
History’s most extensive and expensive manhunt has come to an end. In The Local's media roundup, the German press on Tuesday gauge the symbolism versus the reality. READ »

Beheading al-Qaida: Is Germany safer?

National: 2 May 11
The death of Osama bin Laden is a historic moment coinciding with key al-Qaida arrests in Germany. But does it make us safer? The Local asked Christian Tuschhoff, terrorism expert at Berlin's Free University. READ »

Al-Qaida suspects seized with explosives

Society: 29 Apr 11
German police on Friday detained three alleged members of al-Qaida, federal prosecutors said, as a report said they had been plotting attacks in Germany. READ »

Thousands march for nuclear-free peace

National: 24 Apr 11
The traditional German Easter marches for peace and against nuclear power drew thousands to the streets around the country over the weekend. READ »

Bickering NATO allies discuss Libya in Berlin

Politics: 14 Apr 11
NATO foreign ministers met Thursday in Berlin amid a growing rift over the pace of air strikes in Libya, as calls mounted for allies to intensify the bombing campaign to prevent a stalemate on the ground. READ »

Obama plans state dinner for Merkel

Politics: 5 Apr 11
US President Barack Obama will welcome German Chancellor Angela Merkel to a White House state dinner on June 7, and present her with America’s highest civilian award, the White House announced late Monday. READ »

‘Can Germany be counted on?’

Analysis & Opinion: 30 Mar 11
Has Germany’s decision to abstain from the UN resolution on Libya seriously damaged transatlantic ties? Dr. Jackson Janes from the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies sifts through the foreign policy wreckage. READ »

De Maizière makes first trip to Afghanistan

Politics: 26 Mar 11
Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière visited German soldiers in Afghanistan on Saturday for the first time since he took office a few weeks ago. READ »

Bundestag votes to broaden Afghan mission

National: 25 Mar 11
Facing criticism over Germany’s refusal to contribute to the military intervention in Libya, the Bundestag voted Friday to relieve NATO allies by broadening the German mission in Afghanistan. READ »

German warships won't enforce Libyan embargo

National: 23 Mar 11
German warships will not participate in a NATO operation in the Mediterranean to enforce a UN-mandated arms embargo on Libya. But Berlin said Wednesday it will increase its Afghanistan deployment to free up NATO forces. READ »

Bundeswehr general optimistic as Afghan regions tipped for handover

National: 22 Mar 11
With seven regions set to be turned over to Afghan troops this summer, Bundeswehr Gen. Bruno Kasdorf said Tuesday he was cautiously optimistic about the situation in the strife-torn country. READ »

Germany's cowardly foreign policy

Analysis & Opinion: 21 Mar 11
The German government’s decision not to participate in military action against Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi – primarily for domestic political reasons – is deeply irresponsible, argues Markus Horeld from ZEIT ONLINE. READ »

Westerwelle finds reason to fear Libya mission

Politics: 21 Mar 11
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Monday said Arab League criticism of alliance action in Libya showed that Germany had "good reasons" to fear military intervention. READ »

'We've lost credibility in the Security Council'

Analysis & Opinion: 18 Mar 11
Did Germany abandon its closest allies by abstaining from a UN resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya? The Local discussed the potential implications with Dr. Henning Riecke of the German Council on Foreign Relations. READ »

Merkel: Libyan reaction to UN 'encouraging'

Politics: 18 Mar 11
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that reports Libya is reacting to a United Nations resolution were "encouraging" after Tripoli declared a ceasefire in its battle against rebels. But Berlin denied it had isolated itself diplomatically. READ »

German media roundup: Merkel's nuclear U-turn

Analysis & Opinion: 15 Mar 11
Nuclear disaster in Japan has caused Chancellor Merkel to do a sudden about-face and suspend the extension of Germany's atomic power plants. Newspapers in The Local’s media roundup assess the implications. READ »

Afghan police say woman killed by German troops

National: 10 Mar 11
Police in northern Afghanistan said Thursday that German troops based in the area had accidentally killed one woman and injured another during an exchange of fire. READ »

Hesse promises action after airport attack

National: 7 Mar 11
Hessian Interior Minister Boris Rhein on Monday reacted to the deadly shooting of two American servicemen at the Frankfurt Airport last week, announcing better security for the US military and increased surveillance of terrorist suspects. READ »

Shooting was 'revenge' for Afghanistan war

National: 4 Mar 11
German prosecutors said Friday that an alleged Islamic radical accused of shooting dead two US airmen at Frankfurt airport did so in revenge for Afghanistan but had no links to international extremists. READ »

Today's most read Today's most commented