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German court to hear Afghan tanker attack lawsuit
A German court is to hear a case from 79 Afghan families seeking damages for the deaths of dozens of civilians killed in a 2009 air strike.The families represent victims who died when a German commander ordered the attack on two fuel tankers stolen by insurgents. The families are seeking 3.3m euros (£2.8m; $4.3m) from the German government. In 2010, the German defence ministry paid out $430,000 to victims' families. At the time, German authorities labelled the payment as humanitarian aid and said it did not constitute an acceptance of legal responsibility. The attack on the tankers happened near the northern Afghan town of Kunduz. At least 90 people were killed, though a lawyer for the Afghan families contends that 137 people were killed. Many of the victims were women and children trying to siphon fuel as the tankers had been abandoned. The incident triggered a major political controversy in Germany, leading o the resignation of the then-Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung and the dismissal of army chief Wolfgang Schneiderhan. Germany's parliament described it as "one of the most serious incidents involving the German army since the Second World War". Posted by: tipper 2013-03-20 |
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