German soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) conduct a joint patrol with soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) in the village of Isa Khel in the Chahar Dara district in this December 16, 2011 file photograph. As NATO nations revise their plans for standing up local security forces in Afghanistan, doubts are growing over whether the West will be willing to pay for even a smaller Afghan force seen as key to keeping militants at bay as foreign troops go home.
A German soldier of the ISAF gives a tennis ball to children during a patrol in the village of Isa Khel in the Chahar Dara district on December 16, 2011. (Thomas Peter/Reuters
German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung (C) walks past the coffin of a German soldier killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan, during a funeral service on October 24, 2008 in Zweibruecken, southwestern Germany. Two German soldiers, aged 25 and 22, where killed in the attack as a cyclist suicide bomber blew himself up near a German military vehicle in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan on October 20.
A photograph of German soldier Patrik B. killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan is displayed during a funeral service on October 24, 2008 in Zweibruecken, southwestern Germany. Two German soldiers, aged 25 and 22, were killed in the attack as a cyclist suicide bomber blew himself up near a German military vehicle in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan on October 20. AFP PHOTO DDP/TORSTEN SILZ.
Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr carry the coffins of two German soldiers killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan, during a funeral service on October 24, 2008 in Zweibruecken, southwestern Germany. Two German soldiers, aged 25 and 22, where killed in the attack as a cyclist suicide bomber blew himself up near a German military vehicle in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan
