Germany warns against premature troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

The German government on Wednesday warned US President Donald Trump that his planned drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan risks putting peace and progress in the country in danger.

“Our serious concern is that a premature withdrawal could jeopardize the negotiation process [between the Afghan government and the Taliban], create a security vacuum and jeopardize the progress achieved in Afghanistan,” German foreign ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger told reporters during a briefing in Berlin.

This came after acting US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said late Tuesday that Washington will reduce its military presence in Afghanistan from around 4,500 troops to 2,500 by January 15.

Since the US ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, NATO allies, including Germany, have assisted American military efforts in the country.

The US currently has around 4,500 troops in Afghanistan while NATO has just under 12,000.

In February the US signed a conditions-based withdrawal agreement with the Taliban which paved the way for the start of peace talks between the Afghanistan Republic’s negotiating team and the Taliban.

However, since the start of talks in September – which quickly hit a deadlock – the Taliban has markedly increased violence across the country.

In line with this, Burger told reporters on Wednesday that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas “has repeatedly acknowledged that it was a great diplomatic achievement, including that of the Trump government, to create the conditions for peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government to take place.”

He added: “In our view, this peace process is the best way to ensure that a troop withdrawal can take place in such a way that everything that has been achieved in Afghanistan in recent years — in terms of human rights, education, economic development, development opportunities for girls and women as well — is not lost or put at risk. One of the key business principles of this peace process has always been that military withdrawal steps are subject to conditions.”

At the same briefing, German defense ministry spokesperson Arne Collatz-Johannsen acknowledged that the US troop withdrawal also risks having consequences for the over 1,000 German troops that are currently in Afghanistan as part of the Resolute Support mission.

“We are of course trying to find out — also together with our partners and NATO as a whole — what this means in concrete terms for capabilities on the ground, because it is also very clear that the US, as the strongest contributor to the deployment on the ground, has a significant role to play in capabilities that are necessary to sustain the overall [troop presence],” Collatz-Johannsen said.

“Here we assume that the principle — together in, together out, and out at the right time — will be upheld,” he said. “We now have to adjust our planning … to what we are told by the American side.”

On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also warned the Trump administration against a hasty pullout from Afghanistan, saying “the price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high.”