Nov 21, 2007

On the invitation of Professor Joachim Krause, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Kiel, Germany, Mr. Hekmat Karzai Director of CAPS visited Germany on October 24th and 25th.  Mr. Karzai held various meetings at the Federal Chancellery with senior officials, met with members of the German Parliament and engaged with academics from various universities.

Mr. Karzai was also the keynote speak at a Strategic Discussion Circle which was attended by several branches of the German government including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, BND, members of the parliament from SPD, CDU/CSU, and FDP.  The topic that Mr. Karzai spoke about was, “The Challenges of Stabilizing Afghanistan – an Afghan Perspective.”

During his remarks Mr. Karzai extended his gratitude to the German government and the people for extending their kind assistance to the Afghan people. He stated that, ‘Germany is a traditional ally of Afghanistan and its contribution is greatly appreciated by Afghans, however, it needs to further engage on both military and development fronts.’

Germany has 3,200 troops in Northern Afghanistan but they operate under restrictive rules of engagement. Thus far, Germany has lost 25 soldiers in Afghanistan to suicide attacks and roadside bombs, commands the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the North.

Many Nato allies have criticized Germany for its caveats specifically restricting its forces to fight at night.