Taliban was the target of German airstrike: reports (Roundup)

Dec 12, 2009, 15:50 GMT

Berlin - German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg came under renewed pressure on Saturday, after media reports that a lethal airstrike in Afghanistan had been aimed directly at Taliban fighters, rather than vehicles they had seized.

The September attack, which claimed up to 142 victims according to NATO reports, came after the government had decided to take firmer action against the Taliban, according to a report by daily Leipziger Volkszeitung.

However, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly denied that her office had any influence on specific deployments in Afghanistan.

The government had initially insisted that the attack was aimed at two hijacked fuel tankers stuck in a riverbed, fearing they would be used in a militant attack. Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed or injured in the attack, which prompted a major political row in Germany, where the Afghan mission is controversial.

The attack forced the resignation of Franz Josef Jung, the then- 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.

The Leipziger Volkszeitung reported that Merkel's office, the defence ministry and government officials working with the secret services had agreed to an escalation in Afghanistan, including the targeted assassination of Taliban leaders.

Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm denied the claims levelled at Merkel's office.

'The chancellery has always made a point of ensuring that that armed forces deployment occurs within the framework of the mandate granted by parliament,' Wilhelm was quoted by daily B.Z., in an article to be published Sunday.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel news website also reported that the attack had been aimed at Taliban fighters, citing information contained in a report on the attack by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

'He wanted to attack the people, not the vehicles,' the Suddeutsche Zeitung quoted the secret ISAF report as saying - referring to Colonel Georg Klein, the German officer who gave the order for US Air Force jets to launch the September 4 attack.

Guttenberg, who was not defence minister at the time, last week reversed his initial view that the airstrike had been militarily appropriate.

Opposition politicians have since demanded to know the reason for his change of mind.

During a visit a German military base in Afghanistan on Friday, Guttenberg expressed his support for Klein.

'Colonel Klein is someone who acted on that night in good conscience, and wanted to protect his soldiers,' he told the troops in Kunduz, where Germany holds the regional ISAF command.

Next week, a parliamentary committee hearing will investigate the events leading to the airstrike.

Meanwhile, the government is in negotiations over compensation levels for civilian victims of the attack. A sum, reported by media as being in the 'low millions,' is being discussed for 78 claimants represented by a German lawyer.