Development Minister Dirk Niebel is facing calls for his resignation after it emerged that he saved thousands of euros by getting the German foreign intelligence service to fly a carpet home from Afghanistan, avoiding import tax.
A German minister with a taste for soft-furnishings has hit turbulence after he got a carpet flown home from Afghanistan free – on an intelligence service plane, avoiding import tax.
German soldiers are probably burning their fingers and missing their targets in long gun battles in Afghanistan after tests showed their guns are overheating, according to a report in <i>Der Spiegel</i> news magazine on Sunday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called into question Germany's planned pullout from Afghanistan as she made a surprise trip to the war-torn country on Monday, a day after a US soldier massacred 16 civilians.
Germany's armed forces and police currently operate 331 high-tech drones inside and outside the country, and the government intends to swell the fleet, according to a media report that has alarmed civil rights advocates.
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.
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.
The initial withdrawl of 100 German soliders from Afghanistan will not take place before Christmas and won’t be accompanied by a celebration, according to German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière.
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.
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.
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.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of undermining negotiations with the ban by boycotting an international conference on Afghanistan starting Monday in Bonn.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
