The political and potentially international scandal sparked by the five photos showing six German soldiers, deployed in Afghanistan, in mocking positions with a human skull, published on Wednesday by the German newspaper Bild, continues to reverberate in the country, which was on the threshold of announcing a series of measures to reshuffle and expand the role of military operations in the once Taliban-ruled country, as well as in other countries.

Thus, the German Foreign Minister issued an emergency statement on Friday, in order to announce all representatives and personnel of German embassies in both capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, as well as other countries in the Middle East, to take extra precautionary measures against any potential attacks that could target such institutions in retaliation of what has been viewed as a "desecration". "The embassies were informed early on about the pictures and made aware of their contents in order that they could take the necessary steps in terms of their security measures", a spokesman of the Foreign Ministry stated.

In reply, the Kabul administration highlighted its regret with regard to such an offence performed by the German troopers and urged German authorities to "investigate the matter, bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure such actions are not repeated". It has already been announced by the German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung that the current inquiries are focused on the two remaining soldiers, since the other four have been discharged.

The German public opinion was also very critical of the soldiers' extremely offensive poses, while newspapers harshly commented upon them. Among them, the Die Welt stated: "German soldiers pose in Afghanistan with a human skull and bring the entire mission into disrepute. It is not the first scandal involving the Bundeswehr (armed forces) but it could be the one with the greatest consequences".

On the other hand, a more conciliatory attitude was displayed by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who stated during an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio on Friday, that the case of these photos would not make the situation of almost 3,000 German soldiers in Afghanistan a lot worse: "It is naturally not good for the image of the Bundeswehr, nor for the image of NATO. But this is the exception and not the rule".