Afghan lawyer accuses Germany of 'war crimes' in Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Sept 6, IRNA -- A German-based Afghan lawyer here Tuesday accused the German government of committing 'war crimes' in Afghanistan for its role in the deadly NATO bombing in Kunduz in September 2009.
Talking to IRNA, Karim Popal said the German-ordered NATO air attack was tantamount to a 'war crime.'
Popal is representing the interests of the families of dozens of victims killed and injured in a late-night air strike on two fuel tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban in the north Afghan region of Kunduz.
German Colonel Georg Klein, operating under NATO's Afghan mission, requested American fighter jets to bomb the fuel trucks while they were stuck in a river bed.
'Mr. Klein has committed war crimes,' according to Popal.
He emphasized that Germany was also 'an accomplice to US war crimes' in Afghanistan.
'The role of the German government is no different than that of the US ...,'
Popal reiterated.
He held the 'inhuman policies' of the George W.Bush government responsible for the war crimes in Afghanistan.
The Afghan attorney accused the US and its western allies of colonialism in his country.
Popal is seeking 33,000 US dollars in damages per victim for the NATO bombing in Kunduz, while the German government has so far agreed to pay only 5,000 US dollars.
He said many of the victims' families were living in utter poverty.
Popal had earlier warned that should Berlin refuse to agree to an out-of-court payment, he would sue for compensation for the 'flawed and grossly negligent' actions of German military forces.
The deadly air strike turned into a major political scandal in Germany, leading to the resignation of former German defense minister Franz Josef Jung from his post as labor minister over his role in an alleged cover-up of civilian casualties in the NATO air assault in Afghanistan.
Some 142 people were reportedly killed in the September 4, 2009 air assault.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30551933
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