1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Israel-Hamas warUkraineLGBTQ+ rights

Airstrike review

November 30, 2009

Germany's new defense minister, Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg, has announced there will be a new examination of the German-ordered airstrike on two fuel trucks said to have killed dozens of civilians in Afghanistan.

https://p.dw.com/p/KkpJ
Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg speaking to the press
Zu Guttenberg says the inquiry will clear up questions about the airstrikeImage: AP

Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg told German media on Sunday that he had ordered a full inquiry into a deadly airstrike in Afghanistan, after his predecessor and two others stepped down last week. The September airstrike of two fuel tankers hijacked by Taliban militants in Afghan province of Kunduz killed up to 142 civilians.

Labor Minister Franz Josef Jung, who was the defence minister in the previous government stepped down on Friday after the German mass circulation daily Bild reported that aerial videos and a secret military report had indicated that civilians had been killed in the airstrike even as Jung was denying it.

On Thursday, Jung admitted that the report did point to civilian deaths but said he had had no "concrete knowledge" of its contents.

Guttenberg told Bild on Sunday that "mistakes were made," both "before and after the airstrike was ordered." These would be cleared up "as soon as possible," he said.

"Finding out whether these documents put those mistakes in a new light is the objective of this inquiry," he said.

hf/AFP/AP
Editor: Chuck Penfold

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

Franz Josef Jung seen through a camera lense

Berlin continues to feel the heat from deadly Afghan airstrike

Berlin continues to feel the heat from deadly Afghan airstrike

German opposition parties are pushing for a wider inquiry into a NATO airstrike in northern Afghanistan which caused numerous civilian deaths and already led to one resignation in Angela Merkel's cabinet. (28.11.2009)
November 28, 2009
Afghan security officials inspect burnt oil tankers at the site of the NATO-led air strike

Controversial airstrike in Afghanistan: a chronology

Controversial airstrike in Afghanistan: a chronology

Heads have begun to roll in Germany over a controversial NATO airstrike in Afghanistan that may have killed up to 145 people, including Afghan civilians. DW-WORLD takes a look at the chronology of events. (27.11.2009)
November 27, 2009
Franz Josef Jung

Jung defends airstrike reaction before parliament

Jung defends airstrike reaction before parliament

Germany's former defense minister and current labor minister, Franz Josef Jung, defended his actions in the aftermath of Germany's deadly airstrike in early September. Calls for his resignation are reaching fever pitch. (26.11.2009)
November 26, 2009