Berlin to probe report on ISAF's use of Afghan children to find land mines IRNA Jan 11, Berlin, Germany-Afghanistan-ISAF Germany's Defense Ministry has pledged to conduct a "thorough" investigation after a former German ISAF officer alleged that soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have repeatedly used Afghan children to detect land mines in the war-rigged country. Beate Spaethe told journalists in Berlin on Friday that all necessary measure would be undertaken to "thoroughly" probe the case. She stressed the German army was doing an "excellent job" in Afghanistan, triggering laughter among dozens of media representatives at the weekly government news conference. Unveiling his new book titled 'Final Station' in Berlin on Thursday, Achim Wohlgetan claimed that children were misused by ISAF forces to find land mines in the Kabul region in 2002. ISAF soldiers threw apples on an area and then waited to see what would happen. If the children were to run to pick up the apples, and there was no explosion, the area was declared safe, according to Wohlgetan. If the children did not run onto the area, the sphere was marked red and specialists were called in to defuse the land mines, Wohlgetan added. The German Defense Ministry has voiced serious questions over some of the allegations which Wohlgetan made in his book. He also claimed that German soldiers had operated outside the mandated area of ISAF in Afghanistan in 2002. The 41-year-old ex-German soldier quit military service in 2006 as a lower ranking officer. Some 3,500 German troops are deployed in mainly northern Afghanistan. Germany has faced intense pressure in recent months from its NATO allies, notably the US, Britain and Canada, to widen its military presence into southern Afghanistan where NATO troops are battling a revitalized Taliban insurgency. A spate of kidnappings of German nationals in Afghanistan has also negatively influenced public opinion about the western military campaign in the war-ravaged country. According to the latest opinion polls, most Germans oppose the western war in Afghanistan. HENDRICKS & ASSOCIATES 1853 Summerlands Cr. Orleans, Ontario Canada K1E 2Y3 Tel: (613) 824-7831 Fax: (613) 824-8653
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