The first Lufthansa plane carrying evacuees from Afghanistan landed in Frankfurt early on Wednesday with about 130 people aboard, the airline said.
The Airbus A340 picked up passengers who had been taken by Bundeswehr flights from the Afghan capital of Kabul to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.
As part of an airlift effort in coordination with the German government, further special flights from Tashkent, Doha or other neighbouring nations in the next few days will evacuate more people from Afghanistan.
Germany, which had the second largest military contingent in Afghanistan after the United States, wants to airlift thousands of German-Afghan dual nationals, rights activists, lawyers and people who worked with foreign forces.
After dramatic images of throngs at Kabul airport trying to flee after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban, U.S. forces have secured the airport and started an airlift to fly out diplomats and civilians.
(Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
