Nov 21, 2009, 12:20 GMT
Berlin - Dozens of relatives of people killed in a controversial NATO airstrike in Afghanistan are to attempt to claim compensation from the German government, it emerged Saturday.
Karim Popal, a lawyer, said in an interview with the Weser-Kurier newspaper that he was preparing a class-action suit against the government, on behalf of 78 relatives of people killed in the September 4 airstrike. He said he had informed the defence ministry in Berlin.
A German commander had called the airstrike to attack two militant-hijacked fuel tankers in the northern province of Kunduz, where up to 4,500 German soldiers are based.
According to NATO, which later criticized the German commander for overstepping his authority, up to 142 people died, including civilians.
Popal said he had recently been in Afghanistan to prepare material for the case. The lawyer is believed to be hoping for an out-of-court payment by the government to the victims' families.
Failing that, Popal would sue for compensation for the 'flawed and grossly negligent' actions of the German forces, the Weser-Kurier reported.
A spokesman for the defence ministry told the German Press Agency dpa that they had not yet received any communication from Popal, who has both German and Afghan nationalities.
Federal prosecutors are currently considering whether or not the commander in question, Colonel Georg Klein, was covered by the laws of war when he made the order, or if he is prosecutable under civilian law.
Germany does not officially consider its Afghanistan deployment a 'war', although in recent weeks has come close to saying so.
The Kunduz airstrike has proven to be the most controversial episode in Germany's six years in the region, and the government said last week it wanted a definite timetable for withdrawal.
Meanwhile, the governor of Kunduz province Mohammed Omar, in an interview published by news magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday, said German troops were too slow into battle to effectively provide security in northern Afghanistan.
Omar said that in Kunduz, where Germany is the lead nation in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), security had improved in the Bundeswehr's time there.
'But the problem is that the commanders are rotated every three to six months. Some are very experienced, but some are very hesitant.'
Germany has stricter rules of engagement in its efforts to fend off Taliban and other militants than other NATO forces in Afghanistan - a legacy of the country's World War II experience and a condition of close parliamentary control of the military.
'When we call for assistance in a firefight, they (the German forces) often have to request an order from the headquarters in Mazar-i-Sharif. And then they come too late,' Omar said.
Omar added that in the province, which used to be one of Afghanistan's quieter areas until militants started infiltrating earlier in 2009, his government needed more than 2,000 new policemen and equipment before it could take responsibility for its own security.
As well as German troops, US special forces are also present in the province. Since Germany's new government took office in October, ministers have raised calls for a clear exit strategy for the military to be put into place.
'If the Germans don't want to do the work, to be honest it would be better if they left our province,' Omar told the magazine.
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