Kabul – German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Thursday to check up on troops at an army post near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.
Steinmeier, who was accompanied by his wife, Elke Buedenbender, flew to Afghanistan on a German military plane from Kazakhstan where he had been with a business delegation.
The army post is the command centre for northern Afghanistan and where a contingent from the German army is based.
Germany has about 941 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan as part of an ongoing NATO training mission dubbed “Resolute Support.”
The mission aims to support Afghan forces so that the country can eventually provide security services without foreign assistance.
Germany has previously had as many as 5,000 troops in the country to provide training and logistic support to Afghanistan.
The last German president to visit German troops in Afghanistan was Joachim Gauck in 2012.