First German soldiers back home after evacuation mission in Kabul

All German soldiers and officials have now left Afghanistan after the end of the German evacuation mission and the first officers have returned to Germany.

Berlin (dpa) – Three military aircraft landed at the Wunstorf airbase near Hanover shortly before 8 pm (1800 GMT) on Friday. An air force Airbus A310 and two A400M transportation aircraft were used to bring the soldiers back to Germany.

According to military sources, German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was also on board one of the aircraft.

The flights took off from Tashkent, which functioned as the German military’s logistical hub during the evacuation mission.

“The evacuation operation in Kabul was highly dangerous. The Bundeswehr brought as many people as possible to safety under the most difficult circumstances on the ground,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Friday while still in Tashkent.

According to the minister, 5,347 people from at least 45 countries were evacuated on German military flights, including about 500 German nationals and more than 4,000 Afghans.

A total of 18,700 evacuees from Afghanistan have arrived at the US Ramstein Air Base in south-western Germany on some 76 military transport flights, according to a spokesperson for the base on Friday.

More than 4,100 evacuees had already travelled on to the US, the spokesperson said, and flights will continue throughout the weekend.

Washington is processing evacuees at several military installations across Europe and the Middle East before resettlement in the US.

On Thursday, the German Armed Forces ended their 11-day airlift from the Afghan capital under dramatic circumstances, after a terrorist attack at the gates of the airport left 13 US service members and dozens of Afghans dead.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his sympathy following the attack in a letter of condolence to US President Joe Biden.

“We mourn with you for the victims of the brutal attack in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the brave American soldiers who gave their lives to save the lives of others,” Steinmeier wrote on Friday.

“We join you in mourning the many dead and injured among the Afghan civilian population who sought our protection,” Steinmeier continued, assuring the US president that “at this difficult hour” Germany stood firmly at the side of the United States in the fight against terrorism.

Steinmeier also thanked the Bundeswehr soldiers who participated in the evacuation mission.

“You can rely on the soldiers of the Bundeswehr! I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Our country is proud of you,” Steinmeier wrote on Facebook on Friday evening.

It had been a “brave effort in a very dangerous mission”, as shown not least by the attack in Kabul. “Together with our allies, you have brought thousands of people out of Afghanistan to safety,” Steinmeier wrote.