‘Germany ignored warnings of Taliban victory’

Germany ignored warnings of the imminent fall of Kabul and missed chances to evacuate people before the Taliban seized power in 2021, according to leaked documents.

Officials blocked a rapid relocation of Afghan staff amid fears of a refugee crisis before an election, newspaper Die Zeit reported on Thursday, citing emails and classified papers.

Not until August 14, a day before the fall of the western-backed Afghan government, did Germany put forces on alert, before an evacuation was ordered the next day.

More than 5,000 people were airlifted out in a chaotic end to the 20-year German presence in Afghanistan. Berlin sent 93,000 troops to the country, with 59 killed, as part of the US-led coalition.

Angela Merkel, chancellor at the time, conceded that allies had underestimated how quickly Afghan government forces would collapse in the face of the Taliban advance.

Two official inquiries are continuing but the leaked papers bring to light previously unreported warnings from German officials, which went unheeded by Ms Merkel’s government.

An August 6 memo with the subject “seeing Kabul, thinking Saigon”, referring to the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, was copied to the chancellery from Germany’s ambassador in the US, Emily Haber.

Her report said the US was preparing to withdraw staff and suggested Germany prepare an evacuation.

But a crisis meeting was only called a week later, after she followed up her report. Ms Haber was also told there was no need to postpone a summer holiday.

The documents also suggest officials misjudged the risk that Kabul would fall. An August 3 intelligence assessment said it would be at least two years before the Taliban could control Afghanistan.

Allied forces, including the US military’s Central Command, had apparently shared intelligence with Germany on the risks of a Taliban victory.

But when asked whether Germany was prepared for a worst case in which Kabul was captured, a German Foreign Ministry official replied: “Definitely not for such an extreme scenario.”

Germany’s Interior Ministry is criticised for allegedly slow-walking the intake of Afghan staff, such as translators and security guards.

A chancellery memo cites a minister as saying there should be “no big refugee discussion in the coming weeks” as Germany prepared for a general election in September 2021.

Ms Merkel, whose decision to welcome in Syrian refugees in 2015 sparked a domestic backlash, spoke of not wanting to “repeat the mistakes” of that year. She did not run in the election.

Visas for Afghan staff have since been held up due to security concerns.