With over 150,000 soldiers from 2002 to 2021 deployed in the country, Germany was the second largest contributor of troops to coalition operations in Afghanistan. Although German troops mainly operated in the comparatively quiet north of the country, the Bundeswehr suffered a number of casualties during participation in the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan.

Overview As of June 29, 2021, 59 German soldiers and 3 policemen died in Afghanistan, with 35 being killed in combat. Among them were the first German reservists and policemen to fall to combat in deployment abroad since World War II. In addition to these fatalities, 245 German soldiers and 4 police officers suffered injuries of varying degrees caused by hostile activity.

Controversy The number of casualties caused public outcry in Germany as it was highest figure of all deployments abroad that the German army since World War II. Participation in the ISAF marks the first time since World War II that German ground troops have fought an organized enemy. Prior to 2002, the Bundeswehr had sustained only 5-7 deaths connected to hostile activity, including their first peacekeeping death, an army medic with United Nations troops in Cambodia who was killed in 1993.

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. Furthermore, the Bundeswehr has unveiled a new order which is to honour acts of heroism achieved in deployments abroad: the Cross of Honour for Bravery.

An incident that occurred on June 26, 2005, which was at first declared an accident by the Cabinet of Germany turned out to have been an attack with a remote-controlled device.

An anonymous soldier, a staff sergeant, was found dead in his barracks in Mazar-i-Sharif. German officials classified the incident as a suicide.

In a statement published on February 2, 2008, Herr Jung mentioned a number of 26 German soldiers who had been killed in Afghanistan.

In a 2010 interview, Special Forces Command (KSK) commander Hans-Christoph Ammon said that no KSK soldiers had so far been killed in action. However, a press release from the US European Command confirmed that at least one KSK soldier was wounded in action in Afghanistan sometime between June and October 2005.

Chronology of incidents

2002 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties 2002-02-15 Kabul, Ghazi Stadium Hostile Riots Riots during a soccer match left five German and Austrian soldiers injured. Locals had tried to storm an overcrowded soccer stadium and attacked the soldiers who tried to block their way. 3 WIA 2002-03-06 Kabul Non-hostile Accidental explosion Two German and three Danish soldiers died when the defusing of a S-125 Neva/Pechora Surface-to-Air-Missile failed. The missile had accidentally exploded due to a defect. Fatalities: Staff Sergeant Thomas Kochert, EOD Company 11 Staff Sergeant Mike Rubel, EOD Company 11 2 Killed 2002-12-21 Kabul Non-hostile Accidental helicopter crash A CH-53GS helicopter crashed in Kabul. The exact reason for the crash, which was first thought to be enemy fire, turned out to be a mechanical failure concerning the Swashplate of the aircraft. Seven servicemen died. Fatalities: Captain Friedrich Deininger, Army Aviation Regiment 25 1st Lieutenant Uwe Vierling, Army Aviation Regiment 15 Sergeant First Class Heinz-Ullrich Hewußt, Army Aviation Regiment 15 Sergeant First Class Thomas Schiebel, Army Aviation Regiment 25 Sergeant First Class Bernd Kaiser, Army Aviation Regiment 15 Sergeant Frank Ehrlich, Technical Center of the Air Force No.3 Private First Class Enrico Schmidt, Army Aviation Regiment 25 7 killed

2003 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties 2003-02-20 Kabul Non-hostile Natural causes Fatality: Captain Holger Nippus, 1st German-Dutch Corps 1 dead 2003-05-17 Kabul Non-hostile Natural causes Fatality: Major Alexander Hofert, Fighter Wing 33 1 dead 2003-05-29 South of Kabul Hostile Landmine One serviceman died and one suffered injuries when the vehicle (Wolf) they were travelling in struck a landmine. They had been on a reconnaissance tour in the south of Kabul Fatality: Specialist Stefan Kamins, AMILGEO 1 KIA, 1 WIA 2003-06-07 Kabul, Kabul International Airport Hostile Suicide bomber attack Four soldiers died and 29 suffered serious injuries when a suicide bomber in a taxi rammed the bus they were travelling in. The bus was not armoured. The soldiers were scheduled to leave Kabul on that day after a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. Fatalities: Sergeant First Class (Officer Cadet) Andreas Beljo, Signals Intelligence Regiment 940 Staff Sergeant Carsten Kühlmorgen, Signals Regiment 320 Staff Sergeant Helmi Jimenez-Paradis, Signals Regiment 320 Sergeant Jörg Baasch, Signals Intelligence Regiment 940 4 KIA, 31 WIA

2004 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties 2004-01-28 Kabul Hostile Bomb attack Alleged Taliban-militants carried out simultaneous bomb attacks on British and German positions in Kabul. One British serviceman died and four British and German soldiers as well as five civilian contractors suffered injuries when the explosives were detonated. 2 WIA 2004-05-11 Kabul Hostile Rocket attack A German soldier suffered injuries in a rocket attack in Kabul. 1 WIA 2004-09-26 Kunduz Hostile Mortar attack Three German and two Swiss soldiers suffered injuries in an indirect fire mortar attack on their base in Kunduz; The base was heavily damaged. Local police repelled the attackers. 3 WIA 2004-10-17 Kunduz Non-hostile Suicide Fatality: Private First Class Silvio Schattmann, Mechanized Infantry Battalion 371. 1 dead 2004-11-26 Kunduz Hostile IED Three Germans suffered injuries when a IED exploded near their convoy on its route to Kunduz. 3 WIA

2005 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties unknown Khost province Hostile unknown A special forces soldier with Kommando Spezialkräfte was wounded in action. 1 WIA 2005-06-25 Rustaq Hostile Bomb attack Two German soldiers and six local helpers died when explosives they had seized were detonated by hostile forces. Fatalities: Sergeant First Class Andreas Heine, Engineer Regiment 100 Staff Sergeant Christian Schlotterhose, Engineer Regiment 100 2 KIA 2005-08-07 Kabul Non-hostile Vehicle accident One serviceman died when the vehicle he was travelling in accidentally overturned. Fatality: Private First Class Boris Nowitzki, Artillery Training Battalion 345 1 killed 2005-11-14 Kabul Hostile Suicide bomber attack A suicide bomber killed a German Army Reserve lieutenant colonel. He was the highest ranking Bundeswehr officer and first reservist to fall in Afghanistan. Two other German soldiers suffered injuries. A couple of attackers provoked a traffic accident with the Mercedes-Benz G-class in which the three soldiers were travelling so they were forced to leave their unarmoured vehicle. The suicide bomber then detonated the explosives in his Toyota Corolla, killing himself, the officer and wounding the two other soldiers. Fatality: Lieutenant Colonel (Reserve) Armin Franz, Reserve Battalion 901 1 KIA, 2 WIA

2006 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties 2006-02-22 Kunduz Area Hostile IED An IED attack on a German patrol injured one soldier and resulted in the total loss of a Mercedes-Benz G-class. 1 WIA 2006-04-07 Kunduz Area Hostile IED An IED attack against a German convoy on its route in Kunduz province injured three German soldiers and killed one bystander. 3 WIA 2006-04-07 Fayzabad Area Hostile Direct fire A Monitoring and Observation Liaison Team (MOLT) of PRT Faizabad was ambushed during a night patrol halt. The attackers were repelled in an exchange of fire. The ambush left three Germans wounded. 3 WIA 2006-06-26 Kabul area Hostile Suicide bomber attack A suicide bomb attack on a US convoy in Kabul killed several bystanders. A German vehicle within the convoy was heavily damaged, its driver suffering from minor injuries. 1 WIA 2006-06-28 Kunduz area Hostile Direct fire An attack with small arms and RPGs on a German night patrol in Kunduz Province injured three German servicemen. During the firefight, a Fennek LSG and two other vehicles were lost due to damage. Several attackers were wounded or killed. 3 WIA 2006-12-17 Masar -e Sharif Non-hostileAccidental explosion One soldier was killed when handling live ammunition. Fatality: Staff Sergeant Christian Kopp, Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion 121 1 killed

2007 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties 2007-05-19 Kunduz Hostile Suicide bomber attack A suicide bomber killed ten people in a crowded market in Kunduz, including three German servicemen conducting a patrol. Furthermore, five other soldiers and 13 civilians suffered varying injuries. Fatalities: Captain (Reserve) Matthias Standfuß, Federal Office of Defense Administration Staff Sergeant (Reserve) Michael Neumann, Navy Arsenal Kiel Staff Sergeant (Reserve) Michael Diebel, Army Depot Darmstadt 3 KIA, 5 WIA 2007-08-15 Road to Jalalabad Hostile IED An attack with a roadside bomb (IED) against a German convoy killed three policemen assigned to the German mission in Kabul. Together with colleagues they had been on their way to a shooting range. One of them was a member of the Federal Police elite unit GSG 9. Another had been the bodyguard of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany and was shortly to return to this position Fatalities: Police Inspector Jörg Ringel, Federal Criminal Investigation Office Police Sergeant Alexander Stoffels, Federal Police Police Sergeant Mario Keller, Federal Police 3 KIA, 1 WIA 2007-08-31 Kabul Hostile Suicide bomber attack Two Afghan soldiers died and five Belgian and German soldiers suffered injuries when a suicide bomber attacked a German Military Police convoy at the main entrance of Kabul International Airport. Two armoured vehicles were damaged 2 WIA 2007-09-08 Mazar-i-Sharif Non-hostile Suicide A serviceman was found dead in his barracks in Mazar-i-Sharif; The cause of death is very likely suicide. Fatality: Staff Sergeant, anonymous 1 killed 2007-10-05 Kunduz Hostile Suicide bomber attack A suicide bomb attack against a German patrol near Kunduz injured three German soldiers, one of them seriously, and their Afghan interpreter. The assassin detonated himself next to a Wolf lightly armoured vehicle. 3 WIA

2008 Date Location Nature of incident Circumstances SituationNote: Ranks and unit names are listed in English for better understanding Casualties 2008-03-27 Kunduz area Hostile IED A Dingo Patrol Vehicle was turned over by a roadside bomb. Three soldiers suffered serious injuries. 3 WIA 2008-06-30 Kunduz province Hostile IED An attack with an IED on a German patrol in Kunduz province injured three soldiers. One vehicle was damaged beyond repair. 3 WIA 2008-07-06 Kunduz province Hostile Suicide bomber attack Three German police officers and several local people suffered injuries of varying degree when a suicide bomber in a car struck the vehicle in which they were travelling. 3 WIA 2008-08-06 Kunduz province Hostile Suicide bomber attack A suicide bomber on a motorcycle wounded three Germans when he attacked an ISAF-patrol 35 miles south of Kunduz. One paratrooper died of the long-term effects of his injuries on 10/05/2009. Fatality: