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On October 6, “10 years after the launch of German military intervention in Kunduz, Germany transferred responsibility for the camp to Afghan security forces,” reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Between now and the end of October, the 900 remaining German troops are expected to leave the provincial capital, points out the daily.
At a ceremony, German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière emphasised that the intervention “had marked a turning point for the German army as well as for German society.” The daily reminds its readers “that 20 German troops were killed in attacks and clashes in the province of Kunduz, more than elsewhere in the Hindu Kush,” particularly after 2007 —
When we evaluate the last 10 years in Afghanistan and the objectives that have been continually revised downwards, the [military] intervention should also prompt reflection on the limits of our narcissistic idealism [..] At a time when international troops are being withdrawn, no one can say if the situation in the country is really as stable as it is regularly said to be.
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