BERLIN, July 22 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that Germany would not give in to the demands of the Taliban to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and would not allow itself to be blackmailed.

"We will not react to demands from the Taliban," Merkel said in an interview with Germany's ARD public television. "We will not give into blackmail."

She said she had "no new hard information" about the status of a German engineer being held hostage in Afghanistan or the circumstances surrounding the death of another German hostage, who the government believes died of stress in captivity.

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