The following addresses the events in Northern Afghanistan between April 2009 and 2014. While this part of the country had long been relatively peaceful compared to the all-out war zones of the south and east, tensions would flare up again in 2008 when the German soldiers deployed to the area came under attack more often, leading to the deaths of the several soldiers. Previously hindered by national caveats, the deteroriating security situation prompted the German-led Regional Command North to launch a series of operations to take on the rising insurgency. Concerted operations began after an insurgent attack on PRT Kunduz within minutes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's departure from a visit. Within two years, the German presence would be doubled and additional reinforcements from the American ISAF contingent were called in, including heavy German armoured vehicles and US aviation assets, allowing for a more aggressive approach towards the insurgency. Initial situation When German troops took over nominal control over Afghanistan's north in 2003, the area was counted among the safest in the whole country, with places such as Kunduz earning the nickname "Bad Kundus" (roughly: Kunduz resort and spa) among German troops due to the notable absence of greater threats to peace and security. This misjudgement was partially a result of the caveat-ridden German military's approach to keeping the peace in the area, reaching out not far enough to actually meet resistance. However, with an increasing toll from suicide and roadside bomb attacks it soon became obvious that NATO's dangerously restrained and considerably under-strength forces in the area—especially from Germany and Hungary—were not able to maintain public order in rural areas. Moreover, a Pashtun minority in several regional "pockets" began to gradually change allegiance and support opposition movements against both foreign troops and other Afghan ethnicities. These conditions would eventually facilitate the insurgency's arrival in the north and threaten a crucial line of communications between the northern border of Afghanistan and Kabul, the capital. Due to similar problems in Regional Command West's area of responsibility, other insurgent groups and bands of criminals were able to get a foothold in the far west of Regional Command North as well. Qari Bashir Haqqani, the Taliban commander for Kunduz province, had in 2008 already vowed to increase his men's efforts against the Germans. Reluctant to engage directly, the Taliban mainly relied on guerilla tactics, killing three Germans over the year and wounding more