Germany Closes Afghan Military Base Early
The German military said Friday it would move up the planned closure of a base in northern Afghanistan in response to deadly protests over the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran by a US soldier. The base would have been shuttered in March, but officials worried its security could not be maintained in the face of the demonstrations.
In Talokan, 300 protesters gathered in front of the Bundeswehr base. A reporter for German public broadcaster ZDF said protesters attacked the base with stones. The relatively small base is difficult to secure because it is located in the middle of a city with 200,000 inhabitants. This prompted the commander to move the base's 50 soldiers to the larger base at Kundus around 70 kilometers away.
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The German base at Talokan had been slated for closure in March, when Afghan security forces are to take responsibility for security there.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,817370,00.html
