#news : Germany's chancellor visits troops in Afghanistan

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 18, 2010 -- Updated 1258 GMT (2058 HKT)

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, two days after Germany's top diplomat announced a planned reduction in troop levels and a day after one of its soldiers died.

Merkel arrived in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan to visit German troops, a German government spokesman said.

The spokesman would not give any further details except to say the trip was previously unannounced for security reasons.

Germany has more than 4,800 troops serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Germany will begin reducing its troop levels in Afghanistan in late 2011, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a speech to German parliament Thursday.

Northern Afghanistan, which is typically not as volatile as the eastern and southern regions of the country, has seen an uptick in violence recently.

And, an ISAF official confirmed to CNN that a 21-year-old German soldier was killed Friday in a non-battle related injury in Pol-e-Khomri, located in northern Afghanistan's Baghlan province.

That brings the number of German military deaths in the Afghan war to 45.

Meanwhile Saturday, violence raged in Afghanistan:

A coalition service member died after an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

With this latest attack Saturday, the number of coalition deaths has risen to 698 so far in 2010, according to a CNN tally.

In Kapisa province, more than 20 insurgents were killed, including several Taliban sub-leaders, by coalition forces during a fight in eastern Afghanistan. Insurgents fired at a patrol and the troops returned fire and brought in air support.

The fighting reflects the tough fight underscored in the U.S. review of operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

At a press conference in Kabul Friday, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the review "shows us that we are on the right track," but more progress needs to be made, particularly in the area of government and the rule of law.

"I remain convinced that we have the right strategy, we have the right leadership and we now have the right resources in place to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda, to reverse the momentum of the Taliban and to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven," Mullen said.

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