Berlin, Nov. 21, (dpa/GNA) – Germany’s Defence Ministry is drafting plans to remove all Bundeswehr troops from Afghanistan, perhaps within as short of a time span as four months, a ministry spokesperson told two German newspapers on Friday.
The plans were being considered before this week’s decision by US President Donald Trump to cut the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 by mid-January, the spokesperson told the Rheinsichen Post and General-Anzeiger newspapers.
Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had said on Thursday that the Bundeswehr was prepared to act very quickly based on the US proposal.
There are currently about 1,250 Bundeswehr troops in Afghanistan running education programmes for Afghan troops, as part of a NATO mission.
According to the spokesperson, if a pullout happens, a team of 150 logistics agents would be sent to Afghanistan quickly to organize the departure. They would support 100 such agents already in the country.
The main considerations would be to decide which equipment and weapons would have to be returned to Germany and which would be left behind after being rendered unusable.
Tobias Lindner, the spokesperson for the Green Party’s Bundestag caucus, told the newspapers that it is no secret that Germany is planning a departure from Afghanistan. “The question is not whether the mission will end, but when and under which conditions.”
That said, Spiegel magazine recently reported that the Bundeswehr set aside 50 million euros (59.3 million dollars) for construction projects in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kunduz.
GNA