Germany's Afghan mission could cost up to 22b euros

Germany's military operation in Afghanistan could cost up to 22 billion euros by the time it ends in late 2014, according to a study released Moday by the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). The German government has spent 17 billion euros on costs related to its Afghan mission in the past 10 years, and may additionally spend at least five billion euros by the end of the 2014 when it plans to withdraw its combat troops. Around 5,000 German troops are deployed in mostly northern Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Dozens of German soldiers have been killed and hundreds more wounded in the controversial western military mission in Afghanistan. A broad majority of Germans strongly oppose the 10-year-old Afghan war.