The German secret services, Federal Intelligence Service or BND, are under the storm eye of opinion and politics for not having anticipated the rapid rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Critics from every political faction have described the situation in Afghanistan as a "disaster" for German interests and questioned the effectiveness and competence of the BND.
In a statement to the Bundestag last June, the German foreign minister, Heiko Maas insisted that it was "inconceivable" that the Taliban "would be able, within a few weeks, to take power" in Afghanistan. In the following weeks, other members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet echoed Maas's statement. Now according to the analysis made by the German national broadcaster Deutshe Welle (DW) it would seem that in Afghanistan there are still many people engaged in the interests of Germany while soldiers, diplomats and service agents have hastily returned home.
In his report on the BND in Afghanistan, journalist DW Marcel Fürstenau quotes former BND intelligence officer Gerhard Conrad as saying that the intelligence agency had no sources on the ground. Others, including University of London researcher Jan Koehler, told Fürstenau that German intelligence failed to grasp the most obvious and simple situations, from the dynamics of society to the overt lack of trust among the Afghan security forces. in their own government.
The possibility of an official parliamentary investigation into the BND in Afghanistan is highly plausible in the coming weeks, says Fürstenau. Several high-level members of Chancellor Merkel's government are expected to testify behind closed doors during the investigation. Even the iron chancellor could be called to testify after leaving office, concludes the journalist.