LONDON, Aug 15: The British government deported on Wednesday an Afghan family whose bid for political asylum in Britain attracted media attention and became the focal point of a public debate over the issue of asylum.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi, along with their two young children, were taken to a chartered plane at a military airbase early in the morning and flown to Germany.

The Afghan couple had sought sanctuary in a mosque in the West Midlands, but were removed forcefully after a police party raided the building about three weeks ago.

The couple was detained and their two children, aged four and six, who were staying with friends, were seized last Friday when they went to visit their parents at a detention centre.

Lawyers for the Afghan family made several appeals to Britain’s high court seeking a reversal of the deportation order, but without success.

The Ahmadis claimed they had fled repression under the Taliban.

While their asylum application was still under process there, the couple and the children moved to Britain and started efforts for getting political asylum here.