German Chancellor Won't 'Tolerate' Criticism of Afghan Bombing

PASSAU, Germany, Sept. 9, 2009— -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointedly said today that she will not "tolerate" any blame or criticism for the air strike in northern Afghanistan that killed an undetermined number of civilians until an investigation of the incident is complete.

The bombing of two fuel trucks in Kunduz last Friday has put added pressure on Merkel by making an unpopular war even more distasteful to German voters.

German officers have been criticized for calling in U.S. airstrikes on two fuel trucks that had been captured by the Taliban, fearing the trucks were to be used in an attack on their base and assuring the U.S. pilots no civilians were present in the airstrike zone.

The resultant blasts have killed a number of civilians with estimates ranging from 56 to 125.

The issue has become so heated in Germany that Merkel addressed the German Parliament today.

The chancellor said she deeply regretted if any civilians were harmed as a result of German actions, but using unusually harsh language she added, "We will not accept premature judgments. I say this very clearly after what I have experienced over the last few days: I will not tolerate that from whomever it may be, at home as well as abroad."

Initial reports said that the German commander on the ground ordered the air strike after seeing the live footage of two hijacked fuel tankers stuck in a dry river bed, with people around them believed to be Taliban insurgents. The images had been transmitted from U.S. aircraft in the skies above the Kunduz region.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung initially defended the military action, saying the air strike requested by German troops was "urgently called for."

"We had evidence that the Taliban had seized the two fuel tankers around six kilometers (4 miles) from the German military base in order to carry out an attack on our soldiers in Kunduz," he said. Jung insisted that Taliban "had made up the predominant share" of the 50 to 60 victims killed in the air strike, although he has since conceded that civilians were also killed.