German Chancellor Angela Merkel today paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan and met her country's troops deployed in northern part of the country. She remembered the dead at the German base at Kunduz with Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Volker Wieker, the chief of staff of the German military. The chancellor talked with soldiers who took part in four days of fighting last month in which they drove Taliban out of the southern part of Char Darah district. She stressed that the military involvement in Afghanistan was also for Germany's security. The German leader said part of the population is sceptical about this mission but she is nevertheless proud of them. Opinion polls have showed that a majority of Germans do not support the Afghanistan deployment. It was Merkel's third visit following others in 2007 and 2009. She is not scheduled to travel to capital Kabul because of security concerns. Around 4,700 German soldiers are serving in northern Afghanistan, considered to be relatively peaceful but Taliban influence has grown in the area during past couple of years. Meanwhile, fighting erupted in the northern province of Baghlan as Taliban tried to capture a police post in Baghlan-e-Markazi district but Afghan police forces fought back. Spokesman for the police chief in Baghlan province Jaweed Basharat said reinforcement had been sent and the fighting was ongoing, but could not say if there were any casualties.