German military and government officials condemned sexual abuse and other violence at a special operations training centre in the southern German city of Pfullendorf, and said seven soldiers were under criminal investigation. They were particularly troubling given earlier reports of maltreatment of women in another unit at the training center. "Discharge proceedings have been initiated against seven soldiers and seven additional soldiers will be moved to different postings," a spokesman for the German defence ministry said on Saturday. "What happened at the training centre is repulsive and despicable," Defence Secretary Ursula von der Leyen told broadcaster ARD on Friday evening. "This is a case where things were tolerated and nothing was said," Arnold told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.

Source: dna January 29, 2017 03:59 UTC