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| German intervention against the Islamic State | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theWar against the Islamic State, theOperation Inherent Resolve andwar on terror | |||||||
 German Air ForcePanavia Tornado flying in support ofCJTF–OIR | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
Supported by: |  Islamic State | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Olaf Scholz(2021–2022) Angela Merkel(2015–2021) Robert Habeck(2021–2022) Sigmar Gabriel (2015–2018) Ursula von der Leyen(2015–2018) Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer(2019–2021) Christine Lambrecht(2021–2022) Volker Wieker(2015–2018) Eberhard Zorn(2018–2022) Air commander: Andreas Schick(December 2015 – May 2016) Holger Radmann(May 2016 – ) Naval commander Jörg Mascow(2016) | Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (Leader of IS) Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi † Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi † Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi †[1] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi †[2] Abu Ali al-Anbari †[3] Abu Suleiman al-Naser † Abu Omar al-Shishani † Abu Waheeb † | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
 German Navy | Military of IS | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 killed (in Iraq) | 450+ killed | ||||||
TheGerman intervention against the Islamic State (codenamedOperation Counter Daesh)[4] was authorized on 4 December 2015. The involvement of the country in theSyrian Civil War and theWar in Iraq (2013–2017) began with theBundeswehr mission inSyria andIraq to combat the terrorist organizationIslamic State. The mission was primarily created as a reaction to theNovember 2015 Paris attacks.[4]
The deployment of the Bundeswehr had been discussed from the end of November 2015 within theGerman government, debated inparliament and decided on 4 December 2015 with a majority of the votes of the coalition partiesCDU andSPD. As a justification it was stated that the terrorist attacks inTunisia,Turkey,Beirut, againstRussia and especially inParis had shown that the terrorist organization acted far beyond their then controlled territories inSyria andIraq, threatening European congeniality and security. Furthermore, with the attacks in Paris ISIL had attackedFrance and the liberal value system of Europe directly. Legally, the right to collective self-defence according to article 51 of theUnited 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 sixPanavia Tornado reconnaissance aircraft (reduced to 4 in October 2017) and anA310 MRTT deployed toIncirlik Air Base inTurkey, 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 ongoingSyrian Civil War, the policy of the Federal Government with the Bundeswehr mission is controversial. Critics such asJakob Augstein, leftist columnist of German news magazineDer 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 millionEuro.[7]
After disputes with theTurkish government on planned visits by members of theGerman parliament toIncirlik 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 toMuwaffaq Salti Air Base inJordan.[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 theBerlin headquarters of Germany's foreign intelligence agency BND on 8 February 2019, ChancellorAngela 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 anasymmetrical warfare force. And this, of course, is a threat," she said. Merkel listed monitoring the situation in Syria as main priority for theBND. "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.[12] The Iraq mission was last extended in March 2026.[13]
There are around 1,200 personnel involved in the mission:[14]
On 10 December 2015, 40 personnel (in anAirbus A400M Atlas) and twoPanavia Tornados flew toIncirlik Air Base as the initial contingent.[15]
The Tornados are used in a reconnaissance role.[14]
TheBremen-class frigate F213Augsburg joined the naval task force of French aircraft carrierCharles de Gaulle from December 2015 to March 2016 and August to November 2016.[16]
TheBremen-class frigateAugsburg joined the naval task force of French aircraft carrierCharles de Gaulle from December 2015 to March 2016 and August to November 2016.[16][14]
