General: German troops acted ‘appropriately’ in seeking air strike on 2 hijacked trucks

September 17th, 2009 Afghan panel says 30 civilians died in NATO strikeKABUL — An Afghan presidential commission said Thursday that 30 civilians and 69 armed Taliban militants died in a German-ordered U.S. airstrike on two hijacked fuel tankers earlier this month.

September 11th, 2009 KABUL - The commission appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to investigate last week's NATO airstrike on two fuel tankers that claimed dozens of Taliban and civilian lives has exonerated the German Army, which ordered the strike, a German television station reported Friday. Civilians were indeed among the victims, but responsibility for the incident lies with the Taliban, ARD television reported, citing investigators in the commission.

September 9th, 2009 German general backs officer in Afghan airstrikeKUNDUZ, Afghanistan — Germany's top military commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday he stood "fully behind" the German commander who called in a U.S. airstrike on fuel trucks hijacked by Taliban that killed civilians as well as insurgents.

September 8th, 2009 KABUL - The NATO military command said Tuesday its probe into a deadly airstrike in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz would take "several weeks" and an initial assessment showed "civilians had been killed or injured in the strike". Friday's airstrike conducted by US planes was ordered by a German military commander when a large crowd of people was observed through satellite images gathering around two trucks stuck in a riverbed in Chardarah district in Kunduz province.

September 8th, 2009 German leader: No rushed judgment on Afghan strikeBERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that the world should reserve judgment on whether civilians were killed in a German-ordered airstrike in Afghanistan, even as NATO said it believed that civilians had died in the attack. The NATO-led force announced that it believed after a preliminary review that civilians had been killed and wounded along with insurgents in the strike last week on two hijacked tanker trucks in the northern province of Kunduz.

September 7th, 2009 German troops defend deadly Afghan airstrikeKUNDUZ, Afghanistan — German soldiers, who in the past have been criticized for shying away from engaging militants in Afghanistan, on Monday rejected criticism that their commanders acted rashly in calling in an airstrike last week that some Afghans say killed dozens of civilians. Three soldiers from Armored Infantry Battalion 391, who could not be identified because of military rules, said they inspected the scene of the airstrike a few hours later and found Afghan police carrying broken weapons away from the smoldering remains of the tankers — proving, they said, the dead were linked to insurgents.

September 5th, 2009 KUNDUZ - Three German soldiers were injured in a suicide bombing Saturday in northern Afghanistan, a day after a German-ordered airstrike in which dozens of people were killed in the same province. The bomber blew himself up in an explosives-packed car, said Mohammad Omar, governor of Kunduz province.

September 5th, 2009 NATO probes airstrike on tankers in AfghanistanKUNDUZ, Afghanistan — NATO investigated Saturday whether villagers siphoning fuel were among scores killed in a U.S. airstrike on two tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban, while a bomb blast wounded four German troops in the same northern Afghan province.

September 4th, 2009 KUNDUZ - Ninety people were killed Friday when a NATO airstrike hit two Taliban-hijacked oil tankers in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz as the militants were distributing fuel to civilians, Kunduz's governor said. The militants stopped the two oil trucks, which were bound for German forces stationed in Kunduz, Thursday night on the highway connecting Kunduz with the neighbouring province of Baghlan, Governor Mohammad Omar said.

September 4th, 2009 KUNDUZ - Ninety people were killed Friday when two hijacked oil tankers exploded in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz as Taliban militants were distributing fuel to civilians, said provincial governor Mohammad Omar. The militants stopped the two oil trucks Thursday night on the highway connecting Kunduz with the neighbouring province of Baghlan, Omar said.

September 3rd, 2009 Afghan officials: A NATO airstrike kills 40KABUL — Officials in northern Afghanistan say a NATO airstrike on hijacked fuel tankers has killed at least 40 people. Chief of Police Gulam Mohyuddin says the airstrike hit two tankers in Kunduz Province near the Tajikistan border.

July 18th, 2009 Hijacked German cargo ship released off SomaliaBERLIN — The German Foreign Ministry says Somali pirates who captured a German-owned cargo ship in May in the Gulf of Aden have released it and the crew is unharmed. A ministry spokesman said Saturday the MV Victoria and its 11 Romanian crewmembers were released safely.

July 18th, 2009 Hijacked German cargo ship released off SomaliaBERLIN — Somali pirates have released a German-owned cargo ship that they captured in the Gulf of Aden in May, the German foreign ministry said Saturday. A ministry spokesman said the MV Victoria and its 11 Romanian crewmembers were released Saturday morning.

May 1st, 2009 Strike cuts off fuel supply to Nepalese capitalKATMANDU, Nepal — A general strike by an ethnic group seeking greater rights in southern Nepal has virtually cut off fuel and food supplies to the capital and other areas in the mountainous north, an official said Friday. The strike called by ethnic Tharu has closed most of the highways in southern Nepal since last week.

April 5th, 2009 BERLIN - A freighter, described in one news report as a German-owned container vessel, has been hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast, the German defence ministry said here Sunday. A ministry spokesman did not specify the ship's origin, the time it was captured, or who had attacked it.