The German government at a meeting on Wednesday, February 24, decided to extend the Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan for another 10 months until January 31, 2022
The current mandate for German troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s Operation Resolute Support expires in March. The number of Bundeswehr soldiers deployed in Afghanistan must not exceed 1,300. The decision to extend the mission still has to be approved by the Bundestag.
Soldiers of the Bundeswehr were deployed to Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001. In December of that year, the Bundestag issued the first mandate for the German military to participate in the NATO-led mission in the Hindu Kush. In December 2014, the North Atlantic Alliance ended its 13-year military operation in the country and launched the Resolute Support mission to train Afghan government troops from 1 January 2015.