German Troops Not "Effective" Says Kunduz Governor

The governor of Kunduz province, Mohammad Omar, is not known for his praise of the Bundeswehr’s operation in Afghanistan. His criticism has just grown even sharper. Now he says the German troops in his region have become completely ineffective.

"When the Germans first came here, they were very effective in the region -- building roads, clinics, bridges and schools. But the situation is very different today. It has got much worse. The Germans are weak in terms of changing the security situation. We have an enemy that wants to kill us. We also have friends but if one friend can’t help us, we have to turn to another,” he recently said.

The other friend is basically the United States and the governor is glad that President Barack Obama has ordered a troop surge. He wants 3,000 of the new troops to be posted in his province. This way, he says, the Germans can concentrate on the areas in the north that are less restive.

Insurgents should be “killed”

The governor does not beat about the bush. He thinks that the Germans cannot do anything against the insurgents in Kunduz unless they kill them.

"The reconstruction team in Kunduz is presumably trained to fight the enemy but the German government doesn’t want that unfortunately. Germany doesn’t want its soldiers to die. But we have a responsibility towards our people here. We have to get rid of the insurgents and we need security. We want the German government to see the reality here and want it allow its soldiers to act effectively.”

Omar approved the strikes on two oil tanks last September, which were ordered by the German military command, after it reported that the tanks had been hijacked by the Taliban. However, dozens of civilians died in the strikes and the incident triggered a widespread debate in Germany that led to the resignation of Labour Minister Franz-Josef Jung, who had been the defence minister at the time of the attack.

German troops defend Kunduz operations

However, the governor of Kunduz would like to see more such offensives. Overall, he thinks, the security situation has only improved in Kunduz because of the Afghan security forces and the US troops.

For the German soldiers who risk their lives daily in Kunduz, these are harsh words to swallow.

Jürgen Mertins, the press officer for the Kunduz reconstruction team, says that there has been good cooperation with the Afghan security forces “in the past few months and we have carried out a whole series of operations. We believe that the security situation in Kunduz has improved because of this.“

Governor Omar’s call for the Bundeswehr to be more effective comes as the debate rages in Germany about whether troops should be in Afghanistan at all. The head of the Protestant Church recently said there was “nothing good” about the operation.

Author: Kai Küstner/Anne Thomas
Editor:Thomas Bärthlein