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Norbert Röttgen (CDU): "It must now not be allowed that the Taliban create militarily one-sided facts"
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Kay Nietfeld / dpa
After the capture of the Afghan city of Kunduz by the radical Islamic Taliban, Norbert Röttgen, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, warned of an international "disaster".
He also brought the Bundeswehr's participation in a military operation into play.
In Afghanistan, there is a risk that the Islamists will conquer the entire country, including the capital Kabul, the CDU politician told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Sunday: "They must not now be allowed to create unilateral military facts." Then there would also no longer be any prospect of a political solution.
Röttgen appealed to the international community, especially US President Joe Biden, to stop the advance of the Taliban - out of responsibility for their own security and the majority of the Afghan population.
This could also mean the involvement of the Bundeswehr.
The results of 20 years should not be undone, he said.
"So if the Europeans, including the Germans, have military capabilities that are needed now, then we should make them available."
At the moment, the main concern is apparently to stop the Taliban's advance by means of air strikes.
The Americans have already started that, said Röttgen.
Germans were stationed in Kunduz for ten years
The Bundeswehr had operated a base in Kunduz for around a decade.
From 2003 to 2013, German soldiers monitored security in the north of the country from the camp.
The Taliban captured the provincial capital on Sunday - one of their major successes since international troops began their withdrawal.
The Islamists had taken over the most important government institutions in the city, three provincial councilors confirmed to the German press agency on Sunday. “The government people have fled. The Taliban have released prisoners from prison. We have neither water nor electricity, ”reported local residents Schekib Salarsai. “The streets are closed. Nobody can bring the injured to the hospitals. ”The police had laid down their weapons and were walking around in civilian clothes. His neighbors are about to pack their things.
Provincial councilor Amruddin Wali told the news agency that security forces and government officials had withdrawn to the former German field camp on the edge of the airport.
The government only holds an area around the airport and this base.
On Sunday afternoon, local time, the fighting around the airport continued.
Taliban are conquering more and more cities
Kunduz is an important trading center near the border with neighboring Tajikistan.
The Taliban briefly captured the city in 2015 and 2016.
Both times the Islamists were pushed back by US air strikes.
The US is also currently flying air strikes.
The US troops, however, have practically already withdrawn.
The US military mission will officially end in less than three weeks.
So far, the US has not yet made any concession that it will continue to support the Afghan security forces against the Taliban afterwards.
On Sunday it was initially unclear whether government forces would attempt a major campaign to recapture Kunduz.
more on the subject
A returnees from Afghanistan reports: I was at war for GermanyA guest contribution by Marcel Bohnert
Afghanistan after NATO withdrawal: "There is no life under the Taliban"
Return of the Taliban in Afghanistan: In the Valley of the WarriorsA report by Christoph Reuter and Christian Werner
Taliban recapture Afghanistan: "Staying would be suicide" Christoph Reuter reports from Kabul
Since the US and NATO troops began withdrawing in early May, the Taliban have made massive territorial gains in several offensives.
They also conquered several border crossings.
Kunduz is the fourth provincial capital to be conquered by the Islamists within three days.
On Friday, Saranj fell in Nimrus on the Iranian border - practically without a fight.
Schiberghan followed on Saturday in Jausdschan in the north.
Almost simultaneously with Kunduz, the Islamists took Sar-i Pul, capital of the province of the same name in the north.
The USA condemned the "new violent offensive by the Taliban against Afghan cities" on Saturday.
The Federal Foreign Office now sees an increasing deterioration in the security situation.
The situation is developing rapidly, said a ministry spokesman on Sunday in Berlin.
The Taliban are now apparently trying to continue their advance.
According to local media reports, they penetrated into the center of Talokan, the capital of the Tachar province, which borders Kunduz.
slü / dpa