There is no pressure on Germany to increase its contribution to the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan by deploying troops to the troubled south of the country, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in Berlin Thursday, according to DPA. "There is no pressure on Germany to go into the south," De Hoop Scheffer said after meeting Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He repeated, however, that the alliance would prefer its member countries to place as few restrictions as possible on the use of their troops. De Hoop Scheffer characterized Afghanistan as the "frontline against terrorism." NATO would stay in the country, he said. Steinmeier added: "The task has not been completed." After his meeting with De Hoop Scheffer, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Germany would increase its efforts to train the Afghan military. He stressed, however, that German deployments to the south would remain restricted to emergency situations.
