Berlin, March 12 (IANS) Germany was not sure whether its troops would pull out of Afghanistan by 2014, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday during a surprise visit to the country’s troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Merkel asked the Hamid Karzai government to enhance political reconciliation, saying more efforts were needed.
“For that reason, I cannot say we will manage this by 2013-2014. The will is there, we want to succeed and we will work on this,” she was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Merkel arrived in Afghanistan without public notification, said a government spokesman.
The last time she visited the troops in Afghanistan was in December 2010.
Germany has around 4,900 soldiers in the war-torn country as part of the NATO-led international peacekeeping force.
US and British troops are scheduled to be withdrawn by the end of 2014.