Ongoing military conflict between Germany and the Islamic State
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Battles and operations
Major insurgent attacks
Foreign interventions
IS genocide of minorities
IS war crimes
Timeline
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The
German intervention against the Islamic State
(codenamed
Operation Counter Daesh
)
[4]
was authorized on 4 December 2015. The involvement of the country in the
Syrian Civil War
and the
War in Iraq (2013?2017)
began with the
Bundeswehr
mission in
Syria
and
Iraq
to combat the terrorist organization
Islamic State
. The mission was primarily created as a reaction to the
November 2015 Paris attacks
.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
The deployment of the Bundeswehr had been discussed from the end of November 2015 within the
German government
, debated in
parliament
and decided on 4 December 2015 with a majority of the votes of the coalition parties
CDU
and
SPD
. As a justification it was stated that the terrorist attacks in
Tunisia
,
Turkey
,
Beirut
, against
Russia
and especially in
Paris
had shown that the terrorist organization acted far beyond their then controlled territories in
Syria
and
Iraq
, threatening European congeniality and security. Furthermore, with the attacks in Paris ISIL had attacked
France
and the liberal value system of Europe directly. Legally, the right to collective self-defence according to article 51 of the
United Nations Charter
was cited as a justification.
[5]
In addition, the mission was designed to protect the people in the region from further systematic war crimes.
The Bundeswehr assists French forces with six
Panavia Tornado
reconnaissance aircraft (reduced to 4 in October 2017) and an
A310 MRTT
deployed to
Incirlik Air Base
in
Turkey
, and with a frigate (until November 2017). Armed attacks (such as launching air strikes alongside the international anti-ISIL coalition) were not conducted by Germany. The contingent of 1,200 soldiers is the currently largest foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr. Because of the risks associated with the complex situation in the ongoing
Syrian Civil War
, the policy of the Federal Government with the Bundeswehr mission is controversial. Critics such as
Jakob Augstein
, leftist columnist of German news magazine
Der Spiegel
, dubbed the mission "Merkel's War", which made Germany a "war party". In addition, the critics feared that the risk of terrorist attacks in Germany was likely to rise.
[6]
The parliamentary mandate for the mission was valid until 31 December 2016. It was extended on 10 November 2016 by another year until 31 December 2017. The military operation was reported to cost 134 million
Euro
.
[7]
After disputes with the
Turkish government
on planned visits by members of the
German parliament
to
Incirlik Air Base
, in June the German government decided to halt their operations from there and relocate the 250 German troops, six Tornados and the A310 MRTT tanker aircraft to
Muwaffaq Salti Air Base
in
Jordan
.
[8]
The tanker arrived in Jordan on 9 July 2017,
[9]
while all six Tornados were temporarily flown back to Germany. Four of them flew to Jordan and arrived on 4 October 2017. Germany reduced the Tornado fleet from six aircraft to four, citing ISIL's strength being reduced by that point in time.
[10]
While speaking at the inauguration of the
Berlin headquarters of Germany's foreign intelligence agency BND
on 8 February 2019, Chancellor
Angela Merkel
stated that despite ISIL losing most of its territory in recent years, the terror organization still remained "a threat" in Syria. ISIL "is transforming into an
asymmetrical warfare
force. And this, of course, is a threat," she said. Merkel listed monitoring the situation in Syria as main priority for the
BND
. "We remain a long way from peace in Syria," she added.
[11]
The German government ended its participation in military operations in Syria in January 2022 and extended its mission in Iraq for another nine months.
[12]
Scale of operations
[
edit
]
There are around 1,200 personnel involved in the mission:
[13]
- air refueling (about 150)
- education (400 to 500)
- naval (about 300)
- support staff (about 50)
On 10 December 2015, 40 personnel (in an
Airbus A400M Atlas
) and two
Panavia Tornados
flew to
Incirlik Air Base
as the initial contingent.
[14]
The Tornados are used in an reconnaissance role.
[13]
The
Bremen
-class frigate
F213
Augsburg
joined the naval task force of French aircraft carrier
Charles de Gaulle
from December 2015 to March 2016 and August to November 2016.
[15]
Assets
[
edit
]
German Air Force
[
edit
]
German Navy
[
edit
]
The
Bremen
-class frigate
Augsburg
joined the naval task force of French aircraft carrier
Charles de Gaulle
from December 2015 to March 2016 and August to November 2016.
[15]
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"ISIS leader al-Qurayshi dies in suicide blast alongside six children in US raid"
.
LBC
. 3 February 2022.
- ^
"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader 'killed in US operation' in Syria"
.
BBC News
. 27 October 2019.
- ^
Engel, Pamela (23 April 2015).
"Report: A former physics teacher favored by Osama bin Laden is now leading ISIS"
.
Business Insider
. Retrieved
29 April
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Bundeswehr unterstutzt-erstmals Luftangriffe gegen den IS
, Bundeswehr Journal, in German
- ^
Bundeswehreinsatz im Kampf gegen IS-Terror
, Bundestag.de, in German
- ^
S.P.O.N. - Im Zweifel links: Merkels Krieg
,
Der Spiegel
, in German
- ^
Kabinettsvorlage: Bundeswehreinsatz gegen IS soll 134 Millionen Euro kosten
,
Der Spiegel
, in German
- ^
Bundeskabinett beschließt Abzug aus Incirlik
, Augen Geradeaus!, in German
- ^
Luftwaffe verlegt Tankflugzeug fur Kampf gegen ISIS nach Jordanien
, Augen Geradeaus!, in German
- ^
a
b
Deutsche Tornados in Jordanien eingetroffen
, Augen Geradeaus!, in German
- ^
"ISIS still 'a threat' in Syria, says Merkel"
. 8 February 2019.
- ^
"Germany extends Bundeswehr mission in Iraq"
.
DW.com
. 12 January 2022.
- ^
a
b
c
"Hintergrunde zum Syrien-Einsatz der Bundeswehr"
(in German). German MoD
. Retrieved
18 December
2015
.
- ^
"Abflug in den Syrien-Einsatz"
(in German). German Air Force
. Retrieved
18 December
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Justyna Gotkowska, Kamil Frymark (25 January 2016).
Germany’s engagement in the resolution of the Syrian conflict
.
- ^
a
b
AirForces Monthly
.
Stamford
,
Lincolnshire
,
England
:
Key Publishing Ltd
. January 2016. p. 10.
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Operations in Syria
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Operations in Iraq & Kurdistan Region
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Operations in Libya
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Operations in Afghanistan
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Battles
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Related
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