Nato begins inquiry into Afghan deaths

Nato’s commander in Afghanistan has appointed a Canadian general to investigate an airstrike that reportedly killed up to 70 …

Nato’s commander in Afghanistan has appointed a Canadian general to investigate an airstrike that reportedly killed up to 70 civilians.

US Army General Stanley McChrystal said in a statement he had asked Major General CS Sullivan to lead an inquiry into the incident near the northern town of Kunduz.

“An initial assessment conducted at the scene of the incident by McChrystal and several of his senior leadership team concluded that civilians had been killed or injured in the strike,” according to the statement.

Afghan Rights Monitor said up to 70 people were killed in the attack. "Even if all the victims were supporters of the Taliban the fact that most of them were unarmed and were not engaged in any combat activity does not warrant their mass killing," it said.

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German troops called in the strike, which was carried out by a US F-15 fighter jet. Northern Afghanistan is under German command. Germany has about 4,000 troops in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent after the US and the UK.

The incident has become an issue in the German September 27th legislative elections, with Chancellor Angela Merkel telling the Bundestag today that Germany’s military engagement in Afghanistan is necessary to combat terrorism.

"The consequences of not acting will affect us just as much as the consequences of acting,” Ms Merkel said. “The mission in Afghanistan is our reaction to terror. It originated from there, and not the other way around.”

She said German troops still had a responsibility in Afghanistan but reiterated her call for an international conference this year to agree how to transfer responsibility for security which would allow NATO to reduce its troop levels.

"The second presidential elections in Afghanistan mark the start of a new quality to the relations between the international community and Afghanistan," said Ms Merkel.

She said Afghans must shoulder more of the security burden in their country.

"Now is the right moment, together with the new Afghanistan leadership, to set out at the end of this year how the transfer of responsibility will happen," Ms Merkel told parliament.

The Nato inquiry is examining the series of events that began on September 3rd, when two fuel trucks were reported stolen by insurgents, according to the Nato statement.

Troops of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force “later located the trucks on the banks of the Kunduz River,” Nato said. “Believing civilians were not in the area, the local ISAF commander authorised an air strike, which destroyed the two fuel trucks. Subsequent review has led ISAF to believe that along with insurgents, civilians also were killed and injured in the strike.”

President Hamid Karzai condemned the air strike. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaroyesterday, the Afghan leader said Gen McChrystal had called to apologise.

German defence ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said yesterday the decision to order the strike was based on information that indicated the presence of armed Taliban near the tankers. He rejected suggestions that a German reluctance to shoot first in combat was behind a decision not to send ground troops to secure the fuel trucks, which were parked in a riverbed.

The air strike has divided Nato allies, with French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner saying last weekend the attack was “a big mistake”. France has 3,160 troops in the country, the fourth largest contingent.

Faced with growing anger from Afghan civilians and from the Afghan government, Gen McChrystal last month issued new guidelines that call for air power to be used as a last resort.

The investigation will take several weeks, Nato said. Other members of the team will include representatives of the German Army and US Air Force, and they will coordinate with the Afghan government’s own inquiry