German troops staged mock shooting of Afghan-report

BERLIN, Nov 4 (Reuters) Germany's army was hit by fresh allegations of misconduct today when a newspaper reported peacekeeping soldiers in Afghanistan staged the mock execution of a local child in 2002.

The article in the Berliner Morgenpost daily follows media reports that German soldiers desecrated human skulls in Afghanistan in 2003 and, in a separate case, used a car with a Nazi-era emblem, probably in Oman, at an unspecified time.

The Morgenpost said it had interviewed a non-commissioned officer serving in Afghanistan in 2002 who saw a German soldier putting a loaded gun to a child's head on a patrol in Kabul.

''The boy was incredibly scared until he realised he wasn't really going to be shot,'' the witness was quoted as saying in a preview of the paper's Sunday edition.

The man posed with the boy and about four or five soldiers took photographs of the scene, the man said. Afterwards, the boy was given a dollar ''as a reward'', he said.

The paper suggested the episode was not an isolated event but did not provide any further details, or photographs.

The Morgenpost said the Defence Ministry had urged the witness to get in touch so they could investigate.

The Defence Ministry has launched a probe into the earlier incidents, which came to light as the government was mapping out a new long-term national security that foresees a bigger role for the Bundeswehr outside of Germany.

On Wednesday, the army said it had suspended four soldiers for involvement in the desecration of human skulls in Afghanistan, taking the total number of suspensions to six.

The inquiry began after a German paper published photographs of soldiers posing with human bones, including skulls.

More than 20 people have been investigated in conjunction with the photos, most of them active soldiers.

The pictures caused outrage in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel described the troops' behaviour as inexcusable and she vowed to punish those involved.

Reuters SBA VP0100