"We must never fail again the way we failed in Afghanistan," said Schahina Gambir, a 23-year-old Green Party parliamentarian.

She was on the Enquete Commission, which for two and a half years scrutinized the ultimately unsuccessful international mission in Afghanistan that operated from 2001 to 2021. The commission's final report is now available, and the Bundestag is set to debate its political implications.

From the perspective of Gambir, an Afghani woman born in Kabul and who grew up in Germany, the mission had bitter consequences: "The 20-year mission in Afghanistan was the biggest, the most expensive, and the most sacrificial mission in history."

Fifty-nine Bundeswehr soldiers lost their lives during the military mission, which was triggered by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. Following the withdrawal of the mission's troops in August 2021, the radical Islamic Taliban returned to power. The situation of women and girls, in particular, has deteriorated dramatically in Afghanistan ever since.

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