In These New Times

PressTV

3rd April, 2010

Thousands of peace activists have taken to the streets across Germany to demand an immediate end to the country’s unpopular presence in Afghanistan.

Organizers of Saturday’s 30 nationwide rallies said the demonstrations were in objection to the killing of a number of Afghan soldiers who were “mistakenly” shot dead by German troops.

The deaths were a result of “cynical and short-sighted politics,” DPA cited a statement issued by the central office coordinating the Easter protest rallies.

At least 1,200 people gathered in the Bavarian capital, Munich, while another 1,700 participated in marches in other towns, including Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Bremen, Ramstein and Duisburg.

Protesters are calling for an immediate and complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Germany has around 4,500 troops in the war-torn country, reportedly tasked to work with provincial reconstruction teams.

Last September’s German-ordered strike that killed dozens of Afghan civilians in the northern village of Konduz has not helped the image of the forces dispatched by Berlin.

The protest movement, which is celebrating 50 years of Easter demonstrations this year, is also calling for a world free of nuclear weapons and an end to German arms exports.