http://thegate.nationaljournal.com/2008/02/whats_the_point_of_nato_anyway.php

I can see the reason there

“(The Germans) spend much of their time in an enormous base, complete with beer halls and nightclubs, in Mazar-i-Sharif, a 90-minute flight from the fighting,” the article said.

In Berlin, the accusations have been vehemently refuted.

“There is no ban on night flights,” a German armed forces spokesman told the online version of German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Weather conditions could potentially limit the flight of German helicopters, the spokesman said, “but then it’s not just us — the others don’t fly either.” He added that no official complaint was filed from the Norwegians, and even the Scandinavians seem to doubt that things happened as described in the Sunday Times.

Lt. Col. John Inge Oeglaend of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters told Spiegel Online he has heard nothing concrete of the incident, adding the mission was not abruptly ended. “I have no idea how the officer on the battlefield came to such a conclusion,” Oeglaend said.

Other nations on previous occasions have praised German efforts in northern Afghanistan, where numerous civic reconstruction projects (schools, bridges, water infrastructure) have been realized in the past years; moreover, the German emergency medical installations in Afghanistan are among the alliance’s finest.

However, the German military spokesman confirmed a safety restriction mentioned in the article; it’s true that Bundeswehr soldiers are not permitted to travel more than two hours away from hospitals with emergency surgery capabilities, he said.