End of the Afghanistan mission: soldiers landed in Germany

After the end of the mission in Afghanistan, the last German Bundeswehr soldiers are back in Germany. In the afternoon, three Luftwaffe transport planes landed at the Wunstorf air base in Lower Saxony.

Almost 20 years after the start of the Bundeswehr mission, the last German soldiers have returned to the Federal Republic. After an overnight stopover in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, the returnees landed in several planes at the Wunstorf air base near Hanover in the afternoon.

According to the Bundeswehr, a total of 264 men and women were on board the three planes launched together – including 20 men from the Special Forces Command (KSK), who had been transferred to Afghanistan to secure the camp in Mazar-i-Sharif, which had been cleared the day before. With reference to the corona pandemic, the Bundeswehr waived a large reception in Wunstorf.

“A historical chapter comes to an end”

Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that the withdrawal marks the end of a historic chapter, an intensive mission that challenged and shaped the Bundeswehr and in which the troops had proven themselves in combat. “A mission in which members of our armed forces were injured in body and soul, in which people lost their lives, in which we had to complain about dead,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer. “My thoughts are with you, they will not be forgotten.”

Over the past 20 years, around 150,000 Bundeswehr soldiers have been deployed in the Hindu Kush, many of them several times. 59 German soldiers were killed in the country, 35 of them were killed in combat or in attacks.

Rapid troop withdrawal

The Bundeswehr recently had to push the withdrawal significantly after the US government under President Joe Biden had accelerated the withdrawal. The USA, as the largest provider of troops, had initially decided to withdraw by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks by the Islamist network Al-Qaeda in the USA. Now there was pressure for a withdrawal by July 4th – the US national holiday.

The security situation in Afghanistan worsened with the start of the withdrawal of international troops. Since May 1, the militant Islamist Taliban have re-conquered around 90 of the approximately 400 districts in the country, including in the former areas of operation of the Bundeswehr in the north. It remained unclear until the very end whether there would be an attack on the camp. The Bundeswehr had brought reinforcements to the camp.

Country experts warn that the Taliban could plunge the country into a bloody civil war again. And wipe out all the progress made over the past 20 years.

“How to lose a good friend”

Politicians and members of the armed forces in Afghanistan regretted the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr. After 20 years of friendly relations, it is “like losing a good friend,” said General Khanullah Schudschah, the commander of the 209th corps of the Afghan army in Mazar-i-Sharif, the dpa news agency. Shujah took over Camp Marmal from the German soldiers, which for many years was the largest base of the Bundeswehr abroad.

Shujah said that the war with the militant Islamist Taliban is currently running in full intensity, everyone can see. His troops are ready and have the necessary capacities.

Local politicians feared the withdrawal would have a negative impact on the morale of the Afghan security forces. The German soldiers had not been involved in combat operations for a long time, but their presence alone had strengthened the morale of the Afghan soldiers and police officers. Now she and many civilians are drawing the conclusion that the situation in the country has become so bad “that we are all left alone,” said parliamentarian Fausia Hamidi. Provincial councils also said the withdrawal would further encourage the Taliban.

First mandate in Afghanistan in December 2001

The deployment in Afghanistan marked a new chapter for the Bundeswehr. It began after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and to provide military support to the United States.

The Bundestag passed the first Afghanistan mandate on December 22, 2001. In January 2002 the first forces arrived in the capital, Kabul. “On January 14, 2002, German soldiers took part in a patrol in the war-torn city for the first time,” said the Bundeswehr in retrospect.

Germany was the leading nation in the north of Afghanistan and was involved in this role until the end of the NATO training mission “Resolute Support”. The opposition and the Armed Forces Commissioner Eva Högl repeatedly called for a review of the mission in order to better understand progress and failures and to draw conclusions for future and ongoing missions.