英语文摘：Germany to send more combat troops to Afghanistan

BERLIN, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Germany would send another 120 combat troops to the Kunduz region in northern Afghanistan due to rising militant violence there, German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Friday.

    The minister announced the move during a visit to forces in Kunduz, where the army conducted its largest post-World War II combat mission earlier this year, in an attempt to forestall increasingly frequent Taliban attacks.

    "It isn't all sweetness and light here," Guttenberg was quoted as saying by the German news agency DPA during the visit, adding that the troops would be deployed from mid-January 2010.

German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (2nd R) talks with German troops in Kunduz province November 13, 2009

    The German parliament is expected to vote to approve the boosting of troops in the far-away country on Dec. 13. Germany has always been wary since World War II of military adventures abroad.

    So far the German army's parliamentary mandate provides for a maximum of 4,500 troops to be deployed in Afghanistan, as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

    Germany has already 450 combat troops stationed in Kunduz, in addition to around 1,000 soldiers attached to the so-called Reconstruction Teams, which provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan population.

    The conflict is unpopular at home in Germany, with majority public opinion against extending the mission in the war-torn country, according to opinion polls.   

将本页收藏到：
上一篇：英语文摘：U.S. dollar falls as Eurozone exits recession
下一篇：英语文摘：Six-party talks best framework for peaceful resolution on nuclear issue: Obama

※相关链接※

• ·哪种语言最难学？外媒做了个排名，
• ·夏日炎炎吃西瓜：西瓜对健康居然有
• ·英语文摘:Xi, Putin to witness op
• ·英语文摘:China hits 400 mln vacc
• ·欧美文化:Feature: UK takes big s