German Armed Forces casualties in Afghanistan

With a contingent of nearly 3500 soldiers and policemen, Germany is one of the main contributors of troops to coalition operations in Afghanistan. Although German troops mainly operate in the comparatively quiet north of the country, the Bundeswehr has suffered a number of casualties during participation in the International Security Assistance Force peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

Overview

As of October 5, 2008, 28 soldiers and 3 policemen died in Afghanistan, making a total total of 31 deaths. Among them are the first German reservists to die in hostile actions and the first policeman to die in a deployment abroad. Of a total of 30 fatalities, 15 were attributed to enemy action, eleven were caused by accidents and the cause of four still has to be commented on by the authorities.

In addition to these fatalities, 84 German soldiers and 4 police officers suffered injuries of varying degree caused by hostile activity.

"(See chronicles below)"

Controversy

The number of fatalities has caused a stir in Germany since on the one hand, it marks the highest number of German soldiers to die in a mission abroad, and on the other hand because the German participation in ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom, which is now in its fifth year, is much disputed at the moment. ISAF participation marks the first time since World War II that German ground troops have been confronted with an organized enemy. Prior to 2002, the Armed Forces had sustained only two losses of life connected to direct hostile activities. (A soldier with UN troops in Cambodia was shot dead in 1993. In 2001, a medical officer died when the helicopter he was traveling in was shot down by Georgian insurgents.)

As a direct result of the number of deaths, German Federal Minister of Defence, Franz Josef Jung, presented plans to establish a central memorial for fallen soldiers in Berlin on June 17, 2007. Additionally, the Bundestag received a petition to reestablish the order of the Iron Cross as a visual decoration for soldiers beside the NATO Medal that any soldier would receive for serving in Afghanistan for a respective period.

An incident that occurred on June 26, 2005 and which was firstly believed to be an accident, turned out to be very likely a remote-controlled attack by non-Taliban forces. [http://afghanistan.pigstye.net/article.php?story=HeineAndreas] [http://www.faz.net/s/RubFC06D389EE76479E9E76425072B196C3/Doc~E5FDF309BA1F94741A7522C7CEE37C85A~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html]

The cause of death of a soldier who died on September 8, 2007 at an unknown location in Afghanistan has not yet been disclosed. It appears to be a result of suicide.

The cause of death of two soldiers who died in the first half of 2003 has yet to be disclosed. As no official sources specify the circumstances of their deaths, they are very likely not connected to hostile action.

In a statement published on February 2, 2008, MoD Jung confirmed the death of another soldier, but did not specify what caused the death of the serviceman. [http://www.welt.de/politik/article1626037/Die_Bundeswehr_kaempft_im_Norden.html]

Repeatedly, several media reported that twelve Kommando Spezialkräfte Army Special Forces soldiers died in Afghanistan. These statements remained unsourced since no information about KSK-operations are published or commented on by the government. [http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/art/2005/54477.php] However, due to a press release of US EUCOM [http://www.eucom.mil/english/FullStory.asp?art=1142] it can be confirmed that at least one soldier was wounded in action between June and October 2005 at an unknown location in Afghanistan.

Chronology of incidents

In the period from 2002 to 2008, a total of 79 noteworthy incidents occurred whereby the frequency of attacks has shifted to the north since 2005.
*AOR RC North: 57
*AOR RC West: 2
*AOR RC Central: 19
*Unknown: 1

[http://www.weltkriegsopfer.de/Tote-Bundeswehrsoldaten_81.html] [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,500631,00.html] [http://www.rkkastellaun.de/memory.htm] [http://scotfot.com/BritishCemeteryWebsite/BCListingOfNames.html] [http://www.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/bwde] [http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/afghanistan_aid_137728.html] [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,516455,00.html] [http://www.weltkriegsopfer.de/Tote-Bundeswehrsoldaten_81.html] [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,500631,00.html] [http://www.rkkastellaun.de/memory.htm] [http://scotfot.com/BritishCemeteryWebsite/BCListingOfNames.html] [http://www.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/bwde] [http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/afghanistan_aid_137728.html] [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,516455,00.html]

ee also

*War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
*Coalition casualties in Afghanistan
*British forces casualties in Afghanistan since 2001
*Canadian Forces casualties in Afghanistan
*Civilian casualties of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
*ISAF
*List of Coalition aircraft crashes in Afghanistan
*Taliban insurgency