Germany ponders Afghanistan exit strategy

Sep 14, 2009 1 min read

BERLIN (AP) – Germany’s foreign minister on Sunday advocated laying the foundations by 2013 for an eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he is challenging in elections later this month, said it makes sense to exert pressure on Kabul to ensure progress. The country’s unpopular mission in Afghanistan, where it has more than 4,200 troops, has been put in the spotlight by a German-ordered airstrike near Kunduz in which civilians appear to have died.