German Afghan mission cost over 17 billion euros

Berlin (dpa) 5 October 2021 - The 20-year-long mission by German soldiers and development workers in Afghanistan cost more than 17.3 billion euros (20.1 billion dollars), according to official figures.  

The military accounted for by far the largest cost, the Defence Ministry said.  

“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 Defence Ministry paid a total of about 12.3 billion euros in mission-related additional expenditures from 2001 to 31 August 2021,” the government statement said in response to a parliamentary enquiry.  

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.