Berlin, November 30: Opposition parties in Germany on Monday joined forces to demand a parliamentary inquiry into alleged cover up of civilian casualties in a NATO strike in Afghanistan and probe whether Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had any role in it.
German Labour Minister Franz Josef Jung, who was in charge of the Defence Ministry, stepped down on Friday taking “political responsibility” for the ministry’s handling of the information on the air strike in Kundus last September, in which 124 civilians were killed.
The alleged cover up had also cost the head of the German Armed Forces General Wolfgang Schneiderhan and State Secretary in the Defence Ministry Peter Wichert their jobs.
However, Germany’s present parliamentary opposition comprising of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Left Party and the ecological Green party insisted that resignation of Jung and other two senior defence officials was not enough to clear up the incident.
They plan to convert the present Defence Committee of the Bundestag, the Lower House of Parliament, as an inquiry commission.
“The resignation of Jung leaves many questions unanswered. This is not just about the errors committed by some individuals, but the basic principles of a parliamentary democracy are at stake,” opposition leader in the Bundestag and former foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said.
The Kundus incident will certainly be investigated by an inquiry commission, the SPD’s co-chairman of the Defence Committee Sussane Kastner said.
The air strike on two oil trucks hijacked by the Taliban in Kundus in northern Afghanistan on September 4 was ordered by commander of the German military contingent in Afghanistan Col Georg Klein, who had defended his decision saying he was convinced the Taliban would use the oil trucks to carry out a suicide attack on the nearby German military base in Kundus.
A NATO report on the incident a few days later said around 124 persons were killed when a US fighter bombed the trucks and among them were a number of civilians, including children, who tried to sap oil from the trucks which got bogged down in a muddy road.
The Bild daily had reported that the German Military Police had sent a report and videos on the incident, including details of the civilian casualties, to the Defence Ministry, but top officials in the ministry held back that information.
Following Jung’s resignation, opposition parties have targeted their criticism on zu Guttenberg because he defended the air strike as “militarily appropriate” soon after taking office four weeks ago.
—Agencies