GERMANY REFUSES TO SEND TROOPS BACK TO AFGHANISTAN

Mon 09 August 2021:

Even as Taliban tightened their grip on Afghanistan, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer ruled out sending soldiers back to the country on Monday.

After the Taliban took the city of Kunduz province on Sunday, where Germany stationed hundreds of troops until July, she rejected calls to reconsider the withdrawal.

“Reports coming from Kunduz and from all over Afghanistan are bitter and hurt a lot. We have fought there together with the allies, Bundeswehr soldiers have died in Afghanistan,” she tweeted.

Security in Afghanistan has been deteriorating for years, she said but blamed the recent breakdown on former US President Donald Trump’s “unfortunate” deal with the Taliban, even though it was his successor Joe Biden who promised to withdraw all troops by September 11.

She also stated that Germany and its allies will continue to support the Afghan peace process. They will participate in “active diplomacy,” providing humanitarian relief, training, and supporting effective state-building efforts.

“Now the Taliban are attacking with full force they would have done it even if we were still in the country. Those who call for a new operation in Afghanistan must answer these questions: what the goal, the strategy and the allies will be,” she wrote further.

The minister said that a new offensive against the Taliban would be “very tough and very long.” She asked whether the parliament, Bundestag, was ready to send soldiers back for what could be a generation-long campaign.

“If not, our withdrawal together with the partners remains the right choice. Bundeswehr has fulfilled all the goals in Afghanistan that were given to it by the German Bundestag,” she said.

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