German troops patrol Kunduz, Afghanistan, on May 10, 2013. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The withdrawal involved American C-17 cargo and transport aircraft loaded with material being evacuated from Afghanistan, a fact that demonstrates the NATO alliance.

As the drawdown began, Germany said it will redeploy the equivalent of about 800 containers of equipment such as armored vehicles, helicopters, weapons, and ammunition.

In a statement, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer praised the German soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and expressed her thanks to 150,000 soldiers deployed there in the past two decades. She called this the end of a historic chapter, an intense mission which has tested the German military and in which the German military has proven itself in combat.