The German embassy in Kabul has been endangered for years
Photo: A2800 epa Syed Jan Sabawoon / dpa
Due to the advance of the Taliban, the German government wants to largely evacuate the German embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul. In a meeting of the crisis team in the Foreign Office (AA), the various departments came to the conclusion that the situation in Afghanistan could deteriorate very quickly and that the capital Kabul could also be overrun by the Taliban. In this case it would no longer be possible to bring the remaining embassy staff to safety. It is about 20 diplomats and around 30 bodyguards from the federal police.
Due to the gloomy prospects, the federal government has now decided to fly out almost all diplomats. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has already contacted his US colleague Anthony Blinken. Blinken Germany offered that the diplomats could fly out of the embassy in US planes, as Washington is also massively reducing its embassy staff and is bringing a good 1,600 of its 2,000 employees to safety. Since the airlift from Afghanistan is being handled via the US base in Ramstein, the German diplomats could get out there.
It is currently unclear whether Berlin will accept the offer. In a briefing for security politicians, the Foreign Office and the Defense Department reported that a crisis support team with experts from the Foreign Office and the Bundeswehr would first be sent to Afghanistan. To secure the diplomatic evacuation, the Bundeswehr could later be deployed with robust forces in Kabul. To do this, however, the Bundestag would probably have to adopt a new mandate.
Maas only said at a public appointment on Friday that the embassy staff should be thinned out to the maximum. His spokesman had previously announced that the ministry was constantly adapting its security assessment to the situation and that possible reactions were being prepared for all scenarios. For a good two weeks now, high-ranking rounds have been meeting in secrecy with officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Bundeswehr and the other security authorities to assess the situation in Afghanistan.
The plans for a new Bundeswehr mission to bring back diplomats and around 70 other Germans who are still in Kabul.
Last week the Foreign Office asked the Defense Department whether the Special Forces Command (KSK) or other forces were available.
In military circles it was said on Friday that it was possible to send a military evacuation unit, which the Bundeswehr is keeping ready for crises such as in Afghanistan.
However, it is still open whether they will actually be used.
No secure road connection to the airport
The USA announced on Thursday that it would send around 3,000 soldiers to Kabul.
They are supposed to help evacuate the embassy.
Great Britain also wanted to send 600 more soldiers to help with the departure of British citizens and former Afghan local staff.
Canada is also sending special forces to protect the withdrawing diplomats.
The German embassy in Kabul has long been considered endangered.
In 2017 it was badly damaged in a terrorist attack and had to be almost completely rebuilt afterwards.
Since the embassy, which is located on the edge of the so-called Green Zone in Kabul, has no secure road connection directly to the airport, unlike the US embassy, the diplomats would be trapped on the premises if the Taliban marched in and could only be rescued from the air .
The Federal Foreign Office sent a crisis team to Kabul in the spring to prepare for the expected deterioration in the security situation. In a report that the experts prepared at the time, they already warned that a storm on Kabul after the withdrawal of the international troops would be the "worst case". Even then, they did not want to exclude this. The team recommended the AA to build their own helicopter landing pad on the embassy grounds to be on the safe side so that they could rescue the employees from the air in the event of an emergency.