Merkel defends her government’s role in the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan in 2021

BERLIN Dec. 6 (EP/DPA) –

This Thursday, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her Government’s management in the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan in 2021, within the framework of a parliamentary investigation that studies the actions of the authorities during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.

During his speech, a prepared statement that he read, he defended before parliamentarians that everything had gone well with the withdrawal of German soldiers and the evacuation of their military base Camp Marmal, in northern Afghanistan, three years ago. “The schedule has been met. I felt very relieved about it,” she declared.

In her testimony, Merkel has also addressed the consequences of the so-called Doha Agreement, signed by the United States and the Taliban in February 2020, which regulated the withdrawal of all US forces and their allies from the country, while the fundamentalists committed to that Afghanistan would not once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups.

In this sense, the former chancellor has described Germany’s participation in the military invasion of Afghanistan led by the United States in 2001 as a correct decision, alleging that there was a “well-founded hope” that this would prevent future terrorist attacks in the country. .

Despite this, it has recognized that the international community failed in other objectives such as promoting the rule of law or defending women’s rights, attributing this to a lack of understanding among Western allies, nepotism and drug trafficking, the agency reports. German news station DPA.

Merkel made these statements before a parliamentary inquiry commission that is studying the withdrawal of German forces from Afghanistan in 2021 – which quickly plunged the country into chaos when her Western-backed government collapsed and was quickly invaded by the Taliban. — and decisions about the evacuation of Afghans who had worked with German troops or agencies in the country. Likewise, the objective of the commission is to prepare recommendations for the German Government’s actions in future crises and conflicts.