Germany plans to close its military field camp near Erbil airport in northern Iraq by the end of September and withdraw most of its troops, the weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported Friday.
The Defense Ministry has notified parliament of the decision to shut down the camp, according to the report.
The base has faced repeated threats in recent months as tensions escalated following US-Israeli strikes on Iran. While German forces were not directly targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks, their proximity to US units forced soldiers to spend many nights in bunkers, Der Spiegel said.
Defense Ministry spokeswoman Christiane Noack confirmed that the ministry had briefed parliament’s relevant committees but declined to provide further details on the timeline or other aspects of the withdrawal, citing the safety of deployed troops.
“This will be a matter of detailed planning—it is not a case of a hasty withdrawal,” Noack told a press conference in Berlin. “As you know, there is an exit strategy for every mission, and the path forward has now been mapped out in close coordination with our partners,” she said.
Noack added that a smaller team of military advisers will remain in the region to continue supporting Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
READ: Germany’s Merz tells Netanyahu US-Iran deal is ‘best chance’ for stability
