German parliament to examine Afghanistan mission, evacuation

BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers say the country’s parliament will set up a commission of inquiry into last year’s evacuation mission from Afghanistan and a fact-finding commission on Berlin’s two-decade involvement there. Senior lawmakers from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition and from the main opposition Union bloc of ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that the two panels will be established before parliament’s summer break starts next month. They said that the aim of both commissions is to learn lessons for the future. Germany had the second-biggest contingent in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan until last year’s withdrawal, and for years oversaw security and training efforts in the north of the country.