Germany's Afghan Mission Cost Berlin More than 17B Euros

The 20-year-long mission by German soldiers and development workers in Afghanistan cost more than 17.3 billion euros ($20.1 billion), according to official figures, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported. The military accounted for by far the largest cost, the Defense Ministry said.

Photo Insert: Apart from monetary losses, the lives of the first German reservists to fall in hostile actions and the first German policemen to die in a deployment abroad since World War II were lost. This memorial was built to honor the aforementioned deceased German ISAF soldiers in the German camp at Kunduz.

"For the participation of the German Armed Forces in the 'International Security Assistance Force' (ISAF), 'Operation Enduring Freedom' (OEF) and 'Resolute Support Mission' (RSM) in Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry paid a total of about 12.3 billion euros in mission-related additional expenditures from 2001 to August 31, 2021," the government statement said in response to a parliamentary inquiry.

The Foreign Ministry spent about 2.48 billion euros on "project-related" personnel and material costs, in addition to the cost of normal diplomatic operations. Other large expenses were incurred by the Development and Agriculture Ministries.

Information on the spending of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) in Afghanistan was, however, classified. Also secret is information on which German-built infrastructure is now being used by the Taliban.

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