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.
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.
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, a 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.
A 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.