Spain's deputy prime minister made an unannounced visit on Sunday to northwestern Afghanistan, where Spanish troops serve in the NATO-led security force, the Interior Ministry said. The ministry said Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, who is also Interior Minister, had flown into Herat and Badghis provinces, where Spanish troops are stationed and Civil Guard police are involved in training a local force. «We cannot grow tired of explaining that in a world where we all increasingly depend on each other, Afghanistan's security is also ours,» Rubalcaba said to the troops. According to AP, the trip on Sunday was Rubalcaba's first to Afghanistan and came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel had flown to northern Kunduz province. Spain first deployed troops to Afghanistan in 2002 and now has a force there of about 1,500 as well as around 45 civil guard police. It has lost 93 troops or police, mostly in air crashes, but nine were killed in insurgent attacks.
