Berlin, August 17 (Bureau) The German government has suspended economic aid to Afghanistan, Economic Development Minister Gerd Mueller told German media on Tuesday. “The state’s development cooperation has been suspended,” Mueller told the Rheinische Post newspaper. Olaf Deutschbein, the minister’s spokesperson, cited Mueller as saying on Twitter that the Economic Development Ministry’s agency for international cooperation GIZ had pulled all its staffers from Afghanistan.
“The remaining German and EU members of GIZ were able to safely leave the country. We are working intensely to get support staff of the German development cooperation [agencies] and our partner aid organizations out of Afghanistan, if they want it,” Mueller said.