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Merkel pledges more help for Afghan ex-army staff

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday said Berlin will offer more financial help for Afghans who worked for its army who wish to relocate to Germany to escape the Taliban.

“I called once again for a pragmatic solution in the cabinet yesterday,” Merkel told a press conference in Berlin.

Anyone who had worked for the German army in Afghanistan since 2013 should “have the opportunity to come to Germany”, Merkel said.

“Nobody should be prevented from taking a flight because they cannot afford it,” she said, adding that charter flights should be considered.

It is important “to give those who helped us so much a way out”, she said.

Germany completed its troop pullout from Afghanistan in late June, ending a nearly 20-year deployment there alongside US and other international forces.

But hundreds of local Afghans who worked as drivers, interpreters and other staff for the German army have been left behind and risk being targeted by the Taliban.

The country is facing a crisis as the insurgents snap up territory across the countryside, stretching government forces and forcing many to flee their homes.

The government said in June it had issued 2,400 visas for workers and their families, but critics say the process is moving too slowly.

Asked whether Germany should welcome more refugees from Afghanistan, Merkel said: “We cannot solve all of these problems by taking everyone in.”

Instead, she called for political negotiations so that “people can live as peacefully as possible in the country”.