According to Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the withdrawal of the last German soldiers from Afghanistan is imminent. "We have adjusted to the fact that we can move our forces back properly in the schedules, but also as quickly as possible and that will be the case for a shorter time than for longer," said Kramp-Karrenbauer of the German press agency on Tuesday on a visit to New York. When asked whether it would be more days or weeks, the CDU politician replied: “I wouldn't talk about weeks and months”. For security reasons, however, exact dates are not disclosed.

The Ministry of Defense had recently announced that the relocation of German soldiers from the NATO mission “Resolute Support” from Afghanistan was “going according to plan”. The contingent is still 570 soldiers. Camp Marmal in Mazar-i-Sharif - the base of the German soldiers in northern Afghanistan - will be returned to the Afghans after the end of the mission. At the moment, men and women from the mission are being brought back home via the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

The NATO partners are also currently bringing their soldiers back home.

A few days ago the United Nations warned against a further advance of the Taliban in the country.

After conquering dozens of regions in the past few weeks, they appeared to be preparing to take provincial capitals in Afghanistan as soon as the NATO troops are fully withdrawn.

Conversation with the UN Secretary General about Mali

In New York, the German Kramp-Karrenbauer also met UN Secretary General António Guterres.

Following the conversation on Tuesday, she said that she had talked to Guterres "extensively and intensively", among other things, about German participation in the UN stabilization mission Minusma in Mali.

On Friday, twelve Bundeswehr soldiers were injured in an attack in the African crisis country.

Another topic at the meeting with Guterres was the situation in Afghanistan, as Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

It was about "what happens there after the troops have withdrawn".

Observers warn that the radical Islamic Taliban could regain power in the Hindu Kush after the US and its NATO partners have withdrawn.

Kramp-Karrenbauer will meet US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor to US President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, in Washington on Wednesday.