Germany awards its leader of Afghanistan airlift

Germany's president has bestowed one of the country's highest awards to the commander who led the evacuation of Germans and some Afghans from Kabul.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Brig. Gen. Jens Arlt's leadership of an operation that he said was “unprecedented” in Germany's post-World War II history.

The German military evacuated more than 5,300 citizens of 45 countries from the Afghan capital, part of a wider international effort to airlift 120,000 people after the Taliban takeover last month.

Steinmeier noted that Arlt had managed to bring home all of his 500 troops unharmed, despite the risks they faced on the ground. He added that “we bear some of the responsibility for human tragedy” in Afghanistan.

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