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Deutsche Welle

The case involving German Bundeswehr Colonel Georg Klein was being looked at initially by a state court in eastern Germany.

However, prosecutors there in Dresden have now passed it on to Germany's highest prosecution office to ascertain if the incident is covered by international law.

At this point, Berlin has not officially recognized the conflict in Afghanistan as a "war," though German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg did refer to it as such in a recent interview.

Before the prosecution can determine or even examine whether Klein committed a crime by ordering the airstrike, it must be established whether the Afghan conflict is an "armed conflict."

In a statement, the federal prosecutors said it was "conceivable" that an armed conflict in the legal sense was taking place and that the airstrike was "part of that armed conflict."

This would mean that if the military operations were in conformity with international law and the UN mandate, they would be "legitimate."

Germany, NATO at odds over airstrike

Klein called in the airstrike after Taliban militants hijacked two fuel trucks near a German base in the region of Kunduz in Northern Afghanistan. The death toll has yet to be determined, with figures ranging from 17 to 142 casualties, including militants and civilians.

Klein said he ordered the airstrike because it was necessary to protect soldiers at the base from a potentially devastating suicide attack by Taliban fighters who had hijacked the trucks. The German military has backed Klein's decision, saying he acted out of concern for German troops.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  The German military says Klein was looking out for German troops

At a press conference on Friday, Defense Minister Guttenberg said that he felt the strike was "appropriate in military terms."

Guttenberg said he assumed there were civilian fatalities in the attack despite contradictory accounts, adding that he deeply regretted "every citizen, every innocent victim."

Everything must be done to avoid civilian casualties in the future, he said.

A NATO report, meanwhile, issued last Thursday in Brussels criticized the commander for ordering the strike, saying he should only have done so if his troops were in direct danger, which it judged was not the case.

glb/AP/dpa
Editor: Kyle James