Germany evacuates 5,347 people from Kabul — Defence minister
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer flew to the Uzbek capital Tashkent following the end of the Bundeswehr’s evacuation mission in neighbouring Afghanistan. Kramp-Karrenbauer was accompanied by the Bundestag’s Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Hoegl, and the Inspector-General of the Bundeswehr, Gen. Eberhard Zorn. “The evacuation operation in Kabul was highly dangerous. The Bundeswehr brought […]
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer flew to the Uzbek capital Tashkent following the end of the Bundeswehr’s evacuation mission in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Kramp-Karrenbauer was accompanied by the Bundestag’s Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Hoegl, and the Inspector-General of the Bundeswehr, Gen. Eberhard Zorn.
“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,’’ the Defence Ministry said on Friday.
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.
All German soldiers and officials have now left the country.
After a stopover in Tashkent, which has functioned as the German military’s logistical hub during the evacuation mission, the Bundeswehr’s A400Ms transportation aircraft are due to return to Germany on Friday afternoon, accompanied by Kramp-Karrenbauer.
On Thursday, the German Armed Forces ended their 11-day air transportation from the Afghan capital under dramatic circumstances, after a terrorist attack at the gates of the airport left U.S. soldiers and Afghans dead.
