German Army Withheld Information from US Pilots, Spiegel Online, 1 February 2010
EXCERPT: "In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 4, 2009 bombing in Kunduz, Afghanistan -- which saw a German-ordered attack result in the deaths of up to 142 people, many of them civilians -- it quickly became clear that NATO rules of engagement may have been flouted. Now, SPIEGEL has learned that German commanders on the ground withheld important information from the US pilots above Kunduz -- information which, had it been available, might have led to the pilots' refusing to drop their payload. One pilot, who goes by the handle Dude 15, told NATO investigators that, prior to the bombing, he had 'an uneasy feeling about everything.' He and the pilot of a second F-15 flying over Kunduz that night both 'could tell the ground commander was really pushing to go kinetic' -- in other words, to bomb. He said they even considered breaking off the operation altogether. The bombing took place after the Taliban hijacked two tanker trucks full of fuel. In an attempt to cross the Kunduz River, however, the two tankers became stuck in a sandbank in the middle of the night. Faced with no other alternative, the Taliban encouraged locals to come and fill up containers with the gasoline. Before long, dozens of people had gathered on the sandbank to take advantage of the situation."
Read the full story.
Related articles:
KSK reportedly had key role in Kunduz airstrike, The Local, 31 January 2010
Afghanistan: Germans uneasy over mission, BBC News, 27 January 2010
Factbox: Germany's strategy for Afghanistan, Reuters, 26 January 2010
Top US general chides Germany on Afghan strategy, Deutsche Welle, 20 January 2010
Related posts:
Kunduz airstrike inquiry begins in Berlin, 22 January 2010
German compensation for airstrike victims moves forward, 15 January 2010
Merkel apologises for Afghan airstrike, 1 December 2009
Afghanistan: Understanding German objectives and strategies, 10 July 2009
What does Berlin want in Afghanistan?, 10 March 2009

