Afghanistan: Bundeswehr mission in Kabul ended

The Bundeswehr has ended its evacuation mission in Kabul, and the last flights have left the Afghan capital. According to Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer, all soldiers were flown out.

The German evacuation mission in the Afghan capital Kabul has ended. “We end the airlift today,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel. Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said the last planes had left Kabul airport. “All soldiers and members of the Foreign Office and the Federal Police” had been flown out, according to the CDU politician.

This also applies to two Bundeswehr soldiers who should initially have been left behind. They were flown out with the hospital Airbus in the evening.

Two explosions at the airport

The airport had previously been rocked by two explosions in the vicinity of the site, several people were killed. The attacks made it clear “that an extension of the operation in Kabul was not possible,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer. The security situation and the decision of the Taliban not to tolerate the military evacuations after August 31 would not make this possible.

According to the minister, the Bundeswehr has flown a total of 5,347 people, including more than 4,000 Afghans and around 500 Germans, via the airlift initially to Tashkent and in some cases further to Germany. Kramp-Karrenbauer said that even after the end of the evacuation operation, Germany would remain responsible for the people who could no longer be flown out. “For her, the end of this airlift is the moment of greatest concern,” she said. Your acceptance letters remained valid.

Merkel: “Vile attack”

Chancellor Merkel explained with a view to the explosions that one or more suicide attacks were assumed. “This is an absolutely vile attack,” she said. The people who could no longer have been brought to safety with the airlift will not be forgotten. “We will continue to try to get you to leave the country.” They are “working flat out” to negotiate conditions with the Taliban.

Bundeswehr ends evacuation mission – Chancellor Merkel announces further exit assistance

Frank Jahn, ARD Berlin, daily news 8 p.m., August 26, 2021

Maas: Try to continue creating opportunities to leave the country

According to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, there is currently no information about possible German victims of the attack. According to the SPD politician, the federal government is also working to create exit options for remaining local workers and people who are particularly at risk. “The military evacuation has now ended. But our work will continue – until everyone for whom we are responsible in Afghanistan is safe.”

The relief operation is now entering a new phase. You are still in direct contact with the German nationals remaining in Afghanistan. In order to make it possible to leave the country, talks are being held with various partners and also with the Taliban. Among other things, it is about the continued operation of the airport.

Maas made it clear that care would continue to be taken to ensure that Afghans can leave the country. Embassies in neighboring states have been instructed to issue entry papers to all former employees of the armed forces and federal ministries who already have an admission permit. For other particularly endangered Afghans an “exit perspective” will be created.

“We can no longer afford that”

Meanwhile, the federal chairman of the German Armed Forces Association, André Wüstner, said in an interview with the daily topicsthat the federal government is “only partially capable of strategy”. That is “the essential lessons learned from the next federal government”. We also have to improve on the networked cooperation between the departments. “It doesn’t work that way,” stressed Wüstner, also referring to the commitment in Iraq and the Sahel zone. “We can no longer afford that.”

Because of the “chaotic conditions”, many soldiers are angry and frustrated – also with a view to the fact that maybe there are still friends in Afghanistan. “Local staff that you got to know,” said Wüstner.