Overview
- The Defence Ministry told the Bundestag on Friday that the Bundeswehr will evacuate its field camp at Erbil airport and complete the pullout by the end of September while avoiding an immediate emergency withdrawal.
- German officials said training and advisory support for the Kurdish Peschmerga will continue with a small team of military advisers likely to be relocated to the German consulate in Erbil.
- The decision follows the reported U.S. pullback from the multinational camp, which removed U.S. air-defence assets that had protected partner contingents and left the site exposed to repeated rocket and drone attacks attributed to Iranian-linked actors.
- Only about 30 German soldiers remain on site because of the deteriorating security situation, and the Defence Ministry’s briefing prompted unrest in the Bundestag and a classified session of the foreign affairs committee.
- The move ends a long-running Bundeswehr training presence that began in 2015 to help the Peschmerga fight ISIS and will require international coordination as Iraq’s request to end Operation Inherent Resolve forces partners to reorganize their footprint.