(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Afghanistan on Monday (March 12) to pay a surprise visit to German troops serving in the NATO mission there.<br/> <br />Merkel's trip to German troops based near Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan coincides with heightened tensions after an American soldier went on a shooting spree on Sunday, killing 16 villagers in the south of the country.<br/> <br />Germany is the third largest contributor of troops to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), with over 5,000 soldiers.<br/> <br />Merkel had also hoped to visit German forces at Kundus but bad weather forced her to abandon that plan. No further details about Merkel's trip were immediately available.<br/> <br />She last visited Afghanistan in 2010.
