The first soldiers of the Bundeswehr have returned to Germany from their evacuation mission in Afghanistan. Three military planes landed on the air force base in Wunstorf near Hanover on Friday evening.
After the evacuation mission in the Afghan capital Kabul was over, the Bundeswehr soldiers returned to Germany. They landed in three Bundeswehr aircraft on Friday evening from the Uzbek capital Tashkent at the Wunstorf air base in Lower Saxony. Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) had already received her in Tashkent and accompanied her on the way back.
After landing, she thanked the evacuation mission for their hard work. In conversations it became clear to her that the soldiers, the diplomats from Kabul and the police “saw and experienced incredible things and that they achieved incredible things,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer at the Wunstorf air base near Hanover.
The men and women under the command of Brigadier General Jens Arlt, the commander of Airborne Brigade 1, received full confidence and “more than fulfilled this confidence and all the expectations we placed on them”. Kramp Karrenbauer also said: “The first thoughts tonight also apply to the victims of the terrible terrorist attack yesterday, both the civilian victims and, of course, especially the American comrades with whom this operation was carried out side by side.”
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanked the returnees: “Our country is proud of you,” Steinmeier wrote on the social networks Facebook and Instagram. “Thank you for your courageous commitment in a very dangerous mission – how dangerous was shown not least by the brutal attack at Kabul airport. Together with our allies you have brought thousands of people from Afghanistan to safety.”
Under the leadership of Brigadier General Jens Arlt, the forces were involved in the largest military evacuation mission in the Federal Republic to date. On arrival in Wunstorf, they were greeted by Inspector General Eberhard Zorn and the Armed Forces Commissioner Eva Högl, among others.
5300 people brought to safety
According to the Ministry of Defense, the German Armed Forces brought more than 5,300 people to safety with their A400M transport aircraft during the almost two-week deployment, with 37 flights. These included around 500 German citizens, around 4,000 Afghans and other people from a total of 45 nations.
According to its own information, the Bundeswehr had dispatched soldiers from several areas to the region – paratroopers, soldiers from the Special Forces Command (KSK), military police, crisis support teams, paramedics, military police and members of the air force.
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) wants to try to find ways to leave the country for more Afghans when he visits the region. According to a spokesman, he wants to ensure that Afghans with an entry permit for Germany are allowed to come to neighboring countries by land in order to be flown out from there. Maas also wants to advise on how civil aviation for people leaving Kabul airport could be resumed.
The Foreign Office spokesman put the number of German citizens still remaining in Afghanistan at around 300. In addition, there are around 10,000 Afghan citizens who were listed to participate in the evacuation mission, which has now ended. It is unclear how many of them have already managed to leave the country. Maas wants to visit Afghanistan’s neighboring states Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan as well as Turkey and Qatar.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert affirmed that the federal government will continue to endeavor to get Afghan local workers or other particularly vulnerable people to leave: “I can only say that our feeling of responsibility and concern for these people does not end with the airlift, but we will all try to seize the various possibilities of future help – including help with departure. “
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