German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Sunday that despite the latest attack killing German soldiers in Afghanistan, it would not change the Berlin government's policy, dpa reported.
In Oman, the first stop of a five-nation trip that Westerwelle began Saturday, Westerwelle said Berlin felt "pain and deep mourning" after the suicide attack in Takhar in which seven people including two German soldiers were killed.
"But it cannot and will not divert us from carrying out our strategy in Afghanistan," he said. Despite setbacks, there was now a "withdrawal perspective" in view.
He stressed that with Afghan security forces set to start assuming responsibility in the provinces, the withdrawal of the first German soldiers would, as planned, begin towards the end of the year.
Westerwelle also promised further German help in seeking a political solution for Afghanistan.
