German defence minister on surprise visit to Afghanistan

Dec 11, 2009, 9:28 GMT

Berlin - German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg paid a surprise visit to the Kunduz region of Afghanistan on Friday to address German troops after a September airstrike that claimed numerous civilian lives.

Earlier this week, German Defence Ministry officials began to discuss compensation levels for civilian victims of the September 4 attack, in which according to NATO up to 142 people were killed or injured.

The subject of compensation was likely to arise during the defence minister's trip to the region.

Speaking on German ARD television before he left Berlin, Guttenberg said compensation issues needed to be discussed, 'with the people who carry responsibility on the ground.'

The minister said 'terrible suffering' had been inflicted on civilians, which could never be truly recompensed.

He added that negotiation over paying victims' families would not be a time-consuming process.

The government is in discussion with Karim Popal, a German lawyer of Afghan ethnicity who has taken power of attorney for 78 people from the district of Chahar Dara who he says are relatives of civilians who died.

Guttenberg is also expected to tell troops why he reversed his earlier judgement that the attack had been appropriate.

Last week the defence minister reached the conclusion that the airstrike, targeting two fuel trucks seized by the Taliban, had been a military mistake.

Guttenberg has come under pressure from opposition parties within Germany to explain his change of mind.

The attack forced the resignation of Franz Josef Jung, former defence minister and the military's top officer at the time of the airstrike, when it emerged that details of civilian victims may have been withheld from the public.