From the Local:  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her understanding for those who doubt her country’s involvement in NATO’s Afghanistan mission following the death of four soldiers on Thursday, but said she stands behind the deployment.

During a speech at Stanford University in San Francisco, Merkel said she respected concerns about the worsening situation in the strife-torn country, but insisted that the mission must succeed in stabilising Afghanistan until it can provide for its own security.

After asking several hundred people in the university hall to take a moment of silence for their deaths, Merkel said that the four soldiers who died in a Taliban attack on Thursday did so for “a mission that guarantees our freedom and security.”

The chancellor also called for international cooperation to fight the problem of terrorism.

“Our freedom now more than before depends on us aligning our security policy with global needs,” she said. (photo: Reuters)

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