More and more people from Afghanistan are flying to Germany.
Söder pleads for financial aid for the neighboring countries.
News ticker.
According to the Ministry of Defense *, over 900 people had been evacuated from the German side by Thursday morning.
CSU boss Markus Söder commented on the situation in Afghanistan
(see update from August 19, 12.25 p.m.).
The Taliban are said to have fired warning shots at the airport
(see update from August 19, 1:05 p.m.).
This news ticker for Afghanistan * is continuously updated.
Update from August 19, 1:05 p.m.:
Chaos again at the airport in Kabul: According to
tagesschau.de
Taliban fighters fired warning shots to push back people trying to get to the airport. According to eyewitnesses, many ran away in panic. The Taliban have moved into checkpoints around the airport - impossible for many to get through. Local helpers from German organizations also reported on Thursday that the streets were congested and in some cases impassable. US soldiers did not let them at the entrances, two local staff reported to the German Press Agency. The CNN journalist Clarissa Ward, who is one of the few foreign journalists still on site, spoke of a "tornado of madness". According to her, people threw babies over the fence to keep them safe. The Taliban are on the move with whips and weapons to hold the people back.
Markus Söder takes a stand on Afghanistan - and speaks openly about the future of Maas
Update from August 19, 12.25 p.m.:
CSU boss Markus Söder was very quiet about Afghanistan for a long time.
After a CSU presidium meeting, he has now commented on the current situation.
He generally asked the government for more information, including for the parties, not just for the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag.
In his statement, Söder addressed SPD Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, among others.
Now the CSU thinks nothing of personnel debates, but: "We assume that the majority of the people under discussion will no longer be in office after the election." Söder afterwards.
Overall, the federal government does not give a strong picture in this situation.
The party does not believe in mutual accusations, it does not have a "particularly sovereign external effect," said Söder.
Nor is it enough simply to say that one has miscalculated.
Söder comments on Afghanistan: “Debacle” for the West
"Everyone who refuses to talk about a stronger Bundeswehr has been fundamentally refuted," said the CSU boss at the press conference.
The SPD, among others, is opposed to armed drones.
The bottom line is that Afghanistan is a “debacle” for the West in Söder’s eyes.
The results are a "heavy defeat".
The way of withdrawal after 20 years is "shameful" in the end.
Many local workers were still waiting to be rescued.
Söder also thanked the soldiers who had done a great service.
Bavaria is "not heartless". Like other federal states, the Free State will continue to take in those seeking protection. The group of people seeking protection will also be expanded to include journalists, human rights activists and women's rights activists. But: "The most important help that can be given now is in the neighboring countries," says Söder. For the neighboring states, which may take in large numbers of refugees, "very, very strong financial support" is needed, said Bavaria's Prime Minister. Before the great wave of refugees in 2015, one of the main mistakes of the West was to leave the neighboring countries alone. This was one of the major causes of flight. And this must now be solved differently. You now have to help “as quickly and as generously as possible”. The coordination must run through the UNHCR.
Söder appealed that there would soon have to be a NATO meeting, an Afghanistan conference and a common European position.
But Afghanistan should not be misused as an election campaign topic.
Update from August 19, 11:47 a.m.:
The CSU Presidium is currently meeting and advising on the situation in Afghanistan, among other things.
Alexander Dobrindt had previously worked with the
Münchner Merkur
spoken.
At around 12 noon, CSU boss Söder, Dobrindt and Secretary General Markus Blume appear in front of the press.
Afghanistan: German armed forces planned charter flights for local staff before departure
Update from August 19, 10:40 a.m.:
Should Germany have to help refugees in Afghanistan earlier? Politicians are currently concerned with this question. It is already known: Even before leaving Afghanistan, the Bundeswehr planned charter flights for local personnel to leave the country in the event that transport with scheduled aircraft is no longer possible. The flights were planned for June 25 - just four days before the last German soldiers left Camp Marmal in Mazar-i-Sharif. At this point in time, 60 local workers plus family members were expected - a total of up to 300 people.
At first it was said that the flights had failed due to "bureaucracy".
At the request of the dpa, the Ministry of Defense highlighted another aspect: It turned out that the flights were not necessary.
"In retrospect, it can be determined that a charter flight on June 25th was not necessary because people were still able to fly out by other means at the end of June."
According to the ministry, some of the local staff had no wish to leave the country at the time.
Others had already had tickets for scheduled flights.
For the remaining five local employees and their relatives, the ticket costs were assumed.
"The cancellation of the charter flights (has) not resulted in people being stuck in Afghanistan who would otherwise have been flown out," emphasized the ministry.
Afghanistan: Taliban urge people to leave the airport
Update from August 19, 10:20 a.m.:
The Taliban are said to have asked all people without a travel permit to leave the airport, reports
tagesschau.de
.
A Taliban representative also said that twelve people had died in mass panics since Sunday, some of whom had been shot.
According to the Foreign Office, the Taliban closed a blocking belt around the airport.
It is true that foreigners can get away with it, but hardly or not at all for Afghans.
Merkel is planning a government declaration on Afghanistan in the Bundestag
Update from August 19, 10:04 a.m.:
Afghanistan keeps the federal government on its toes.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has already made public statements.
Now she wants to make a government statement on the situation in Afghanistan in the Bundestag on August 25.
The German press agency learned this on Thursday from government circles.
In a special session on that day, parliament wants to discuss and resolve the mandate for the Bundeswehr evacuation mission, which the cabinet passed on Wednesday.
Afghanistan: Baerbock calls for talks with the Taliban
Update from August 19, 9:53 a.m.:
In view of the dramatic situation in Afghanistan, the Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock has pleaded for talks with the Taliban. "The only way to really bring people who are threatened with death to safety now is to talk to the Taliban about the fact that these people can still be brought to the airport," said Baerbock on WDR. "But what we cannot do is recognize this government because it is not the legitimate government, it is an Islamist terrorist organization."
The federal government has failed in the Afghanistan policy in the past few weeks and has not taken warnings seriously, so that many local workers are now stuck in the country.
At the moment, the absolute focus must be on saving people, emphasized Baerbock.
After that, the federal government must meet with the Americans and Canadians to discuss how the next few weeks in Afghanistan could be shaped.
Talks between the federal government and the Taliban: FDP sees committee of inquiry coming to Afghanistan
The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, also defended the ongoing talks between the federal government and the Taliban. Such conversations could influence the Islamists, he said on the RBB's inforadio. “We are trying not only to ensure that many foreigners leave the country safely, but also to do something for the local staff at the same time. And we are not alone now. ”The Federal Government is in talks with the Taliban through the Ambassador to Afghanistan, Markus Potzel. Other western countries are doing the same.
The deputy FDP chairman Wolfgang Kubicki, meanwhile, expects a parliamentary committee of inquiry into Afghanistan after the federal election *.
"I'm sure: there will be," he said on RTL / ntv- "early start".
The role of the Federal Intelligence Service must also be examined *, which has "also completely failed".
The FDP politician criticized Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) in particular.
"First I would fire Heiko Maas because it is a complete failure of German diplomacy and foreign policy."
Afghanistan: returnees describe brutal chaos - defective German transport plane
First report from August 19:
Kabul - The evacuation measures from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, continue: "During the night we were able to evacuate another 211 people to be protected from Afghanistan," wrote the Ministry of Defense on Thursday morning on Twitter. "Another Bundeswehr machine has brought German citizens, local staff and other people at risk from Kabul to Tashkent - the number of evacuees has risen to more than 900," it continues.
On Wednesday evening it became known that a German transport aircraft involved in the evacuation flights from Kabul is defective.
"The defect does not affect the evacuation," writes the Ministry of Defense.
A replacement machine has already landed in Kabul.
In addition, another A400M military transporter with spare parts had arrived in Tashkent.
The defective A400M is also located there.
+
US Army soldiers stand guard at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul (August 16, 2021)
© Isaiah Campbell / dpa
Afghanistan: Machines with hundreds of people land in Frankfurt
Machines with hundreds of people on board who had previously been brought to safety from Afghanistan also landed in Frankfurt early Thursday morning.
A total of around 500 people were on board the two chartered planes from Lufthansa and Uzbekistan Airways.
The machines had started in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, where the Bundeswehr had previously brought the people from the Afghan capital Kabul.
More flights from Tashkent are expected.
After landing in Germany, passengers reported terrible experiences and chaotic conditions at the airport in Kabul.
He saw the dead and heard gunshots.
"It is terrible," said Mahmud Sadjadi.
“Helplessness, hopelessness.
Just chaos ”, he described the conditions in Kabul.
The man from the Westerwald had previously been flown to Frankfurt on the Lufthansa evacuation flight.
Sadjadi, who had stayed in Kabul for three weeks, said it was particularly dangerous at the Afghan capital's airport.
"For example, you have to go through a Taliban * barrier." Afghan security forces had fired.
He heard how people died.
Without a passport, it was not possible to get through to the airport.
+
Early in the morning Mahmud Sadjadi (center) from Berod in the Westerwald reported to media representatives about the situation in Kabul and his trip to Germany.
© Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa
Reports from Afghanistan: Organizational difficulties in the return operation
Another passenger, who did not want to give his name, reported organizational difficulties during the return operation.
"The situation is difficult and not easy to get under control," he said.
But the people in Afghanistan need help.
"The world has to help the Afghan people."
The passenger Sadjadi thanked the federal government for the rescue, but also complained about a lack of information.
“There was no information about where to gather, when to gather.” One was left alone, he received no answer to his emails.
Other countries would have picked up their people with buses and brought them to the airport.
"Thank God everything went well."
Nevertheless, he thinks of the many people who are still in Afghanistan.
The situation is terrible, said Sadjadi, who was received by his children in Frankfurt.
"The cheapest thing there is is the life of an Afghan," said the German with Afghan roots.
A terrible game was being played with the country.
He himself still has a family in Afghanistan, his siblings live there.
Evacuation measures from Kabul: CSU meets on Afghanistan
The CSU * Presidium also wants to hold a video conference on the situation in Afghanistan on Thursday.
Afterwards there will be a press conference with the CSU boss Markus Söder *, general secretary Markus Blume and the regional group chairman Alexander Dobrindt.
(dpa / cibo) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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List of rubric lists: © Christian Mang