German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere is in northern Afghanistan. The visit follows another security handover milestone, and gets de Maiziere out of a hostile domestic battle of his own.

Thomas de Maiziere landed in Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday, two days after Afghan troops took formal control of the last 95 Afghan districts that had been controlled by troops of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It's de Maiziere's 12th trip to the country in almost 28 months as defense minister; he most recently visited in tandem with Chancellor Angela Merkel in May.