German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg visited a combat zone in Afghanistan on Sunday, the first time a senior German politician has met German troops who are facing off day to day against the Taliban, dpa reported.
An army helicopter took him from the German base in Kunduz to the outpost 70 kilometres away in troubled Baghlan province.
A German quick reaction force is deployed at the outpost and conducts operations in the area in tandem with the Afghan Army. Just 15 kilometres from the outpost, four Germans defending a dusty hill were killed in April during a Taliban attack.
Thanking the soldiers for their work, Guttenberg said, "It is so important that one judges the facts not only from one's desk, but also looks at the realities in the place where the fighting is taking place."
Guttenberg, who has served in Germany's army reserve, added that he had been wanting for some time to visit German forces in the combat zone.
"I think it is the right thing for a minister to sometimes show up with soldiers who are serving here for weeks on end in atrocious conditions," he said. A visit to the Baghlan outpost had begun when Guttenberg visited Afghanistan in July, but had to be called off when fighting escalated while the minister was on his way there.
Guttenberg arrived in Afghanistan for the previously unannounced visit on Saturday, accompanied by the speaker of parliament, Norbert Lammert. They took part in ceremonies paying tribute to German soldiers who had been killed.
The Germans are serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Guttenberg and Lammert also were briefed in Kunduz about the German forces' new training and protective battalion which is to be up to full operational strength of 650 soldiers in early September.
The unit is to jointly plan and carry out operations together with regular Afghan army forces with the aim of improving and speeding up the training of Afghan soldiers. A second such battalion is to follow in the autumn.
Guttenberg and Lammert began their tour on Saturday in Mazar-i- Sharif. It is Lammert's first trip to Afghanistan since he became speaker of the lower house five years ago. For Guttenberg, it is his fifth visit since becoming defence minister last October.