Germany estimates there are still between 10,000 and 40,000 local staff working for development organizations in Afghanistan who have a right to be evacuated to Germany if they feel they are endangered, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a Berlin news conference alongside her Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz, Merkel said most of those working for the German armed forces and police were already outside Afghanistan but that, since development aid to Afghanistan had not been stopped, many staff in that field remained in the country.