Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung defended his troops on Sunday for calling in a NATO air strike in Afghanistan and warned against hasty judgments over the most deadly operation involving German forces since World War Two.
Three weeks before a federal election, Jung tried to dispel growing doubts about Germany's increasingly military mission in Afghanistan that were exacerbated by the air strike near Kunduz.
Afghan officials say scores of people, many of them civilians, were killed when a US F-15 fighter jet called in by German troops struck two hijacked fuel trucks on Friday. According to the Washington Post, 125 had died, of whom at least two dozen were civilians.
Because of Germany's belligerent past, the country has kept a tight leash on its military and only reluctantly began deploying troops on peacekeeping missions in the 1990s. The Afghan mission has become unpopular in Germany as its nature has shifted in the once-safe northern Kunduz province.
Taliban taget German troops with purpose
"The air strike was absolutely necessary," Jung told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "I can't comprehend how some can so quickly criticise the military action without knowing what the situation was or the background information."
Jung, who has repeatedly said Germany is not engaged in "war" in Afghanistan, said German officers had "very detailed information" collected over several hours about the two hijacked fuel trucks.
"We had clear information that the Taliban had seized both fuel trucks about six kilometres away from our base in order to launch an attack against our soldiers in Kunduz," Jung said of the attack, ordered by a local German commander.
"If that had succeeded, it would have had horrible consequences for our soldiers. That's why, in my view, the commander made the right decision [...] Based on the information I got, only Taliban terrorists were killed in the strike."
"We are facing a critical challenge at this time," Jung told reporters on Saturday. "We are aware of Taliban declarations targeting the German army due to the election."
Criticism from EU
European Union foreign ministers criticised NATO on Saturday for the air strike, saying it could undermine the Western effort in Afghanistan.
The attack took place a day before EU foreign ministers met in Stockholm to discuss ways to boost Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and stem an Islamist insurgency.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt described the attack as "a tragedy" and called for a thorough investigation.
Asked what more the bloc could do to improve the situation, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters: "It is difficult to say, but mainly to work with the Afghan people and not to bomb them, not only to bomb them."
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called Friday's air strike in Kunduz province an "unacceptable catastrophe" while EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Fererro-Waldner said it was "a great tragedy" that should be investigated.
Merkel, Brown plan Afghanistan conference
As pressure following Friday's airstike was mounting, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans for an international conference on the future of Afghanistan, the media reported.
Speaking in Berlin on Sunday (6 September), Brown and Merkel said the conference could take place, under the auspices of the UN, before the end of the year, and address issues of the country's security, governanve and development.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
