Half of Danes want troops out of Afghanistan

Denmark has suffered more deaths than any other country proportionally to the number of troops it has in ISAF.

Half of Danes want Denmark to set a date for the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, where the country has the highest proportional death toll, a poll showed on Tuesday.

A total of 49.2 percent of Danes said they wanted a date set for a Danish troop withdrawal, 36.7 percent were opposed to the idea and 14.1 percent were undecided.

The result contrasts sharply with a majority in parliament who recently rejected the notion of setting a withdrawal date and establishing an exit plan.

Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen on Tuesday warned against the consequences of a Danish withdrawal, which he said would only play into the hands of Afghanistan's extremists.

- I don't plan to let our soldiers stay one day more than necessary in Afghanistan. But it's not realistic to set a withdrawal date today - he told reporters.

He said it was important for his centre-right government - to set success criteria and not exit dates. -

Despite being in favour of a withdrawal date, a relative majority of Danes, 47.1 percent, still approve of Denmark's military presence in Afghanistan, 38.9 percent are opposed, and 14 percent are undecided, the poll conducted by Catinet Research showed.

The survey questioned 1,037 people from November 7 to 9.

The Danish support is in contrast to public opinion in other countries, where the military intervention in Afghanistan is increasingly unpopular.

More than 700 Danish soldiers are taking part in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, most of them stationed in the southern Helmand province under British command.

A total of 26 Danish soldiers have been killed since international forces deployed in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Denmark has suffered more deaths than any other country proportionally to the number of troops it has in ISAF.