German Chancellor Angela Merkel pays an unexpected visit to German troops serving in Afghanistan Monday.
Her trip coincides with heightened tensions after an American soldier went on a shooting spree Sunday killing 16 villagers in the south of the country. She called the killings a quote "terrible deed", and said NATO would do all it could to clarify exactly what happened.
Merkel sat down to lunch with German solders ... and later met with the governor of Mazar-E-Sharif.
The chancellor said she urged the Afghan government to pursue a political reconciliation process with insurgents.
Calls for U.S. and NATO forces to leave Afghanistan are expected to rise after the shooting deaths, which included many women and children.
Germany is the third largest contributor of troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, with more than 5,000 soldiers.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
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